Etymologically
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cut

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Pronunciation

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
  • 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)