Rasor

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An obsolete spelling of razor, referring to a keen-edged blade used for shaving or cutting hair
2. An archaic form of the word for a sharp cutting instrument used to shave the beard or trim hair
3. A old-fashioned term for a very sharp blade that people once used to scrape away facial or body hair

Etymology: In Latin, "rasor" was a shaver or scraper, formed from "radere," meaning "to scrape" or "to shave." The Latin verb produced a whole family of words for scraping and smoothing, so the tool was named for the action it performed rather than for the object itself. The form passed into Old French as "rasor," and English later borrowed it from there. Over time the English spelling settled on "razor," while the Spanish and Italian cognates kept closer to the Latin shape. The sense stayed fixed on cutting hair from the skin, so the word has changed very little in meaning from its Latin root.