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scythe

Etymology and origin of the English word scythe

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Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English sithe,[1][2][3][4] inherited from Old English sīþe, earlier siġðe,[1][2][3][4][5] from Proto-Germanic *segiþō.[2][3][5] It is cognate with Middle Low German segede, Middle Dutch sichte and Old Norse sigðr,[2][3][5] and goes back to a PIE root meaning “to cut”, which also gave Latin secāre and English saw.[1][3][5][4] The sc- spelling appears in the early 15th century, influenced by Latin scissor “cutter” and scindere “to cut”.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

An implement for mowing grass and other crops, with a long curving blade fixed at an angle to a long handle (c. 725).[6][2]

Semantic evolution

The scythe was borrowed from the ancients as the attribute of Time, and since the Middle Ages it has been carried by personifications of Time and Death (1387–8).[6][3] It also named a curved blade used as a weapon, as on the scythed chariots of antiquity.[6][7] The verb appears in the 1570s, “to use a scythe”, and in the 1590s “to mow”;[3][6] by 1897 it described a sweeping, mowing motion,[3][6] and figuratively to cut down swiftly and drastically (1970).[6]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – Old English siġðe, a scythe.[6][2]
  • 1387–8 – attribute of Time or Death.[6]
  • 1422–41 – spelling with sc-.[2]
  • 1573–80 – verb, to use a scythe.[6][2]
  • 1597 – to cut with a scythe.[6]
  • 1897 – to move with a sweeping motion.[6][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. An implement for mowing or reaping, consisting of a long, curved, single-edged blade attached at an angle to a long, bent handle.

Verb

  1. To cut or mow with a scythe, or as if with one.
  2. To use a scythe.

Word family

  • scytheless
  • scythelike
  • sickle
  • saw
  • section
  • scissors

References

  1. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Scythe.” Etymologically, 11 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/scythe. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

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