English
scythe
Scythe comes from Old English sīþe ‘sickle’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *sigiþiz.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sigiþiz‘sickle’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sigiþireconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sīþe‘sickle’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sythe
- Englishearliest quotation 1609scythe
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sigiþiz‘sickle’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sigiþireconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sīþe‘sickle’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sythe
- Englishearliest quotation 1609scythe
Earliest quotation: 1609, William Shakespeare, Sonnet 12: “And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defence Save…”
The story
Immediate Germanic cognates include Middle Low German sēgede, Dutch zicht, Icelandic sigð (all “sickle”). More distantly related with Dutch zeis, German Sense (both “scythe”). The verb, which was first used in the intransitive sense, is from the noun.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *sek- ‘to cut’
saw, sex, design, sign, risk, section, ship, sexual, seal, segment, sack, insect, sawyer, scarlet, sax, sickle, shingle, dissect, het, sich, seg, sedge, sigil, brassica, desiccation, sain, desiccant, 62 more
Today it means
noun 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.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *sigiþiz / scythe