Wiktionary

scythe

See also: Scythe

English

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scythe (1) (larger) and sickle (smaller)

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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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”).[1]

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.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈsaɪð/, (some accents) IPA(key): /ˈsaɪθ/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -aɪð, -aɪθ

Noun

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scythe (plural scythes)

  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. [before 10th century]
  2. (historical) A scythe-shaped blade attached to ancient war chariots.
  3. (cartomancy) The tenth Lenormand card.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Further reading

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Verb

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scythe (third-person singular simple present scythes, present participle scything, simple past and past participle scythed)

  1. (intransitive) To use a scythe. [from 1570s]
  2. (transitive) To cut with a scythe. [from 1570s]
  3. (transitive) To cut off as with a scythe; to mow. [from 1590s]
  4. (intransitive, figurative, often with through) To attack or injure as if cutting.
    • 2011, Catherine Sampson, The Pool of Unease:
      The boy began to keen, and the high-pitched noise scythed through Song's head.
    • 2019 February 27, Drachinifel, 20:09 from the start, in The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?‎[1], archived from the original on 3 November 2022:
      The smaller shells make a complete slaughterhouse of the bridge, and the splinters scythe through anyone out on deck.

Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “scythe”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

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French

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Etymology

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See Scythe (“Scythian”)

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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scythe (plural scythes)

  1. Scythian

Further reading

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