scythe

Meaning

Noun

1. An instrument for mowing grass, grain, etc. by hand, composed of a long, curving blade with a sharp concave edge, fastened to a long handle called a snath.
2. A scythe-shaped blade attached to ancient war chariots.
3. The tenth Lenormand card.

Verb

1. To use a scythe.
2. To cut with a scythe.
3. To cut off as with a scythe; to mow.
4. To attack or injure as if cutting.

Synonyms

sickle

mow

reap

cut

harvest

shears

small

suitability

sword

trim

billhook

cut grass

war scythe

instrument for mowing

crop

bush hook

cut down

glean

lea

shear

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈsaɪð/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: sythe

Inherited from Old English: sīþe

Cognate with Middle Low German: sēgede

Cognate with Dutch: zicht

Cognate with Icelandic: sigð

Cognate with Dutch: zeis

Cognate with German: Sense

In summary

From Middle English sythe, sithe, from Old English sīþe, sīgþe, sigdi (“sickle”), from Proto-West Germanic *sigiþi, from Proto-Germanic *sigiþiz, *sigiþō, derived from *seg- (“saw”), from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut”).
Immediate Germanic cognates include Middle Low German sēgede, Dutch zicht, Icelandic sigð (all “sickle”). More distantly related with Dutch zeis, German Sense (both “scythe”). Also akin to English saw, which see.
The silent c crept in during the early 15th century owing to pseudoetymological association with Medieval Latin scissor (“tailor, carver”), from Latin scindere (“to cut, rend, split”).
The verb, which was first used in the intransitive sense, is from the noun.