Thwitan

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. An obsolete Old English verb meaning to cut off or pare away a piece by slicing with a blade
2. An archaic Old English verb for cutting or trimming something away with a sharp edge
3. Old English word describing the act of slicing or paring off a portion with a knife

Etymology: Old English "thwitan" meant "to cut" or "to cut off," and it belongs to a small family of verbs for slicing and paring. Its closest relative in the Germanic languages is "thwite," a knife, and the verb was used of cutting and trimming things away with a blade. Its vowel tells you something: Old English "þwītan" shows the normal development of a Germanic root in which the "th" sound is the same one that opens modern "thin" and "thick," so the word is built on sound roots that run through the whole family. The word never survived into modern English. It was rare even in Old English, appearing mostly in glossaries and a handful of texts, and it dropped out of use after the medieval period. Its absence is simply a matter of vocabulary turnover: many Old English verbs for cutting were replaced by borrowed or newer terms, and this one faded without leaving a descendant.