Kerf

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /kɜː(ɹ)f/

Definitions

1. A cut or groove produced in materials by a saw or similar tool that influences the final size and shape of the object being worked on
2. The incision created in a surface by a cutting implement, determining the lost material and impacting subsequent measurements
3. A narrow channel or slit formed when something is cut, especially by a saw, affecting the material's final dimensions

Etymology: The surprising thing about "kerf" is how little its meaning has moved: the Old English "cyrf" meant "an act of cutting" or "a cutting instrument", and the modern sense, the slot a saw leaves behind as it passes through wood, is still a cut. The word belongs to a family of Germanic terms built on a root that meant "to scratch" in Proto-Indo-European, and its ancestor in Proto-Germanic referred to a notch or clipping. Its relatives sit in neighbouring languages with similar senses of a notch or nick. West Frisian has "kerf", Dutch has "kerf", and German has "Kerbe", which means a notch or groove. Swedish "korv" is a more distant cousin, showing how the same root spread across the North Sea and Baltic.

Synonyms: cut, slot, groove