Scythe

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ˈsaɪð/

Definitions

1. A long-handled agricultural tool with a curved blade for harvesting grain or mowing grass manually
2. An implement featuring a crescent-shaped cutting edge attached to an extended shaft, employed to reap crops or trim vegetation
3. A farming instrument with a long handle and a curved blade used to cut grass or crops by hand

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "scythe" is that its silent c is a later addition, not part of the original word. Old English speakers wrote "sīþe" or "sigdi" for the curved cutting blade, a word that traces back through Proto-Germanic to a root meaning "to cut," the same root that gave English "saw." The c arrived in the early 15th century. Scribes and speakers, perhaps through a folk-etymological link with the Medieval Latin "scissor" (tailor or carver), which descends from Latin "scindere" ("to cut, rend, split"), added the letter to a word that had never had it. Pronunciation kept dropping the c, so the spelling became a silent reminder of a connection that the word never actually had. The verb developed from the noun, first in an intransitive sense, meaning to work with a scythe. Related forms in other Germanic languages include Dutch "zeis" and German "Sense," both meaning the same tool.

Synonyms: sickle, cutting tool, reaping tool