Reaper

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈɹiːpɚ/

Definitions

1. A figure or implement that cuts down and gathers grain and other crops, or death itself personified as a spectral being with a curved blade
2. An entity that collects harvested grain through cutting action, or the abstract force of mortality represented as a skeletal harvester
3. A device or individual used for cutting and collecting crops during harvest time ; a personification of death as a grim figure wielding a scythe

Etymology: Long before it named a harvester or a skeletal figure with a scythe, the word was a plain working term for someone who cut grain. It comes from Old English "rīpere", built from "reap" and the agent ending "-er", so it literally meant "one who reaps." The Old English form had no suffix trickery to hide behind; the word simply announced what the person did. Over the Middle English period the word shifted in spelling and sound, appearing as "reper" and "repare" before settling into its modern shape. Surnames such as Ryper and Riper preserve older pronunciations, which is a useful reminder that medieval people often recorded trades in names that outlived the trades' vocabulary. The personification of death as a reaper follows naturally from the image of mowing down lives like a field of wheat. The scythe-carrying figure grew out of that metaphor, so the word that once described a field worker ended up describing the grim harvester of souls.

Synonyms: harvester, gatherer, scythe, harvest worker, sickle