cut

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kʌt/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English cutten (also kitten, kette), of uncertain origin.^[2][3][4] Hoad and the Middle English Dictionary infer from the regional variants an unrecorded Old English *cyttan,^[4][3] and the SOED and COED think it probably existed in Old English though it is not recorded.^[5][6][7] It is compared with Swedish dialect kuta, “to cut”, Icelandic kuta (“to cut with a little knife”) and kuti (“little blunt knife”),^[2][8][4] and Barnhart suggests it may be borrowed from a Scandinavian source;^[2] Etymonline also mentions a proposed derivation from French couteau (“knife”).^[3] It largely displaced Old English ceorfan, the source of carve.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To make an incision in with an edged tool: about 1275,^[9] or probably before 1300, in Kyng Alisaunder and Arthour and Merlin.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Of an instrument, “to have a cutting edge” is from about 1400, including cut both ways.^[9] To strike with a whip is from 1607.^[9] The noun meant “a certain length” in the mid-15th century,^[3] and a gash or wound from 1530, in Palsgrave.^[2][10] A stroke with a sword or knife is from 1601, in Julius Caesar.^[2] A piece cut off, especially of meat, is from the 1590s.^[3] The manner in which a thing is cut is from the 1570s, hence “fashion, style” from the 1580s.^[3] A wounding remark is from the 1560s,^[3] an omission from about 1600,^[3] a channel dug out from 1730,^[3] and a reduction by 1881.^[3] The slang sense “a share of profits” is a later one.^[11] Cut and dried, “settled, routine”, is from the early 18th century, from the dried herbs sold in shops as opposed to fresh ones.^[7][3] The adjective cut meant “drunk” in slang from the late 17th century.^[5][12]

Timeline

• c. 1275 – to make an incision in.^[9]
• c. 1400 – of a tool, to cut, and cut both ways.^[9]
• mid-15th century – noun, a length.^[3]
• 1530 – noun, a gash.^[2][10]
• 1560s – a wounding remark.^[3]
• 1570s – the way a thing is cut.^[3]
• 1590s – a cut of meat.^[3]
• 1601 – a stroke with a blade (Julius Caesar).^[2]
• 1730 – a channel or trench.^[3]
• 1881 – a reduction.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To penetrate or wound with a sharp edge.
2. To divide or remove with a sharp instrument; to sever.
3. To shorten by trimming; to reap or fell.
4. To shape or form by cutting.
5. To reduce or curtail: cut costs.
6. To remove part of a text or film.
7. To change direction abruptly; to go directly.
8. To divide a pack of cards.
9. To hurt the feelings of.
10. To stay away from: cut a class.

Noun

1. The act of cutting, or the opening or wound it makes.
2. A piece cut off, especially of meat.
3. A reduction or removal.
4. The style in which a garment is cut.
5. (informal) A share of profits.
6. A hurtful remark.

Adjective

1. That has been cut; shaped by cutting.

Word family

• cuttable
• crosscut
• cutaway
• cutthroat
• offcut
• outcut
• overcut
• undercut

Related words

• carve
• cutlet
• cutter

Usage notes

A separate noun cut, “lot”, in draw cuts, to draw lots with straws of different lengths, is recorded before 1300 and is of unknown origin;^[9][4] the English Dialect Dictionary found it in general dialect use in Scotland, Ireland and England.^[12]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
12. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)