English
sawyer
Sawyer comes from Proto-Indo-European *sek- ‘to cut, cut off, sever’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sek-‘to cut, cut off, sever’root as named · steps between not traced
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sawyer
- Englishearliest quotation 1842sawyer
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sek-‘to cut, cut off, sever’root as named · steps between not traced
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sawyer
- Englishearliest quotation 1842sawyer
Earliest quotation: 1842, – 1844 July, Charles Dickens: “‘A’most used-up I am, I do declare!’ she observed.…”
Formed from saw + -yer
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *sek- ‘to cut, cut off, sever’
sex, design, sign, risk, section, ship, sexual, saw, seal, segment, insect, scarlet, sack, sickle, het, shingle, dissect, sax, scythe, sich, seg, sedge, sigil, brassica, desiccation, desiccant, sain, 62 more
Today it means
noun One who saws timber, especially in a sawpit.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sek- / sawyer