Sawings

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The act of cutting or dividing materials, particularly wood
2. fragments or pieces produced during the process of cutting
3. the unwieldy remnants left over after crafting or shaping a larger material

Etymology: "Sawings" is the plural of "sawing," a noun formed from the verb "saw" with the suffix "-ing," which turns an action into a thing. Sawing names the act of cutting with a saw, and its plural sawings refers to the pieces that result from that cutting. The word is a plain, transparent formation, so its history is simply the history of its parts: "saw" comes from Old English "sagu," and the "-ing" ending is the same one found in countless English nouns made from verbs.