scythen.
/sʌɪð/, U.S. /saɪð/ 1. An agricultural implement for mowing grass or other crops, having a long thin curving blade fastened at an angle with the handle and wielded with both hands with a long sweeping stroke.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > harvesting equipment > [noun] > reaping tools > scythe
scythec725
lea1483
sheathea1660
peck1784
scythe-hook1844
shear1887
α.
β. 14.. in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 728/40 Hec falx, a sykyl, or a seth.1625 Althorp MS. p. lxi To Gibson one daie waiting on my lo. of Southampton in the parke with the saith yor lop bid him call for 00 01 00.γ. 1602 J. Bruen in W. Hinde Life (1641) 147 My son..took up a scith to see how he could mow, and the scith entered in at his stocking.1717 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. 17 May (1965) I. 356 After him several reapers..with Scythes in their hands seeming to Mow.1863 G. MacDonald David Elginbrod (1871) i. x. 47 The day arrived when the sickle must be put into the barley, soon to be followed by the scythe in the oats.1875 J. Wilson in Encycl. Brit. I. 362/1 The common scythe..is very extensively used for reaping grain in all parts of the kingdom.c725 Corpus Gloss. 834 Falcis: wudubil, siðe, riftras.
c825 Epinal Gloss. 62 Falces, uudubil, sigdi, riftr.
c1000 Ælfric Homilies II. 162 Befeoll an siðe of ðam snæde into anum deopan seaðe.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Isa. ii. 4 Thei shul bete togidere their swerdes in to shares and ther speres in to sithes.
a1400 Coer de L. 6788 They slowen Sarezynes al soo swythe, As gres fallyth fro the sythe.
1404 in J. T. Fowler Extracts Acct. Rolls Abbey of Durham (1899) II. 396 Item..1 fot ax, 1 cithe, 1 hamer.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xiiii Take hede thy mower mowe clene & holde downe the hyder hande of his sythe.
1583 R. Greene Mamillia i. f. 12 The grasse looketh better being vncut, then that which withereth with the sieth.
1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion xvi. 246 Thou sawest great-burthen'd Ships through these thy valleyes pass, Where now the sharp-edg'd Sithe sheeres vp the spyring grasse.
1645 J. Milton L'Allegro in Poems 33 And the Mower whets his sithe.
1767 Ann. Reg. 1766 62 Samples of home-made sithes.
1822 T. Taylor tr. Apuleius Metamorphosis vi. 120 There, likewise, were sithes, and all the instruments of harvest.
1828–32 N. Webster Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. Sythe.
2. transferred and figurative, esp. as the attribute of Time or Death.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > [noun] > symbolized
dead man's head1546
death's head1563
death-head1569
billow1592
death's face1598
scythe1609
caput mortuum1694
thigh-bone1825
skull1826
Kensal Green1842
calavera1904
1506 tr. Kalender of Shepherdes sig. Hviv They fyght and cose on eche other wonder With the sythe of deuyls dredabyll.
1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer Prol. f. cccxxvv Sythen al the grettest clerkes..with theyr sharpe sythes of connyng al mowen and made therof great rekes and noble.
1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets xii. sig. B3v And nothing gainst Times sieth can make defence Saue [etc.] . View more context for this quotation
1659 T. Pecke Parnassi Puerperium 112 Time devours Things; His Sithe our Legs will hit.
a1711 T. Ken Hymnotheo in Wks. (1721) III. 185 See how Death preys on humane Race; Out with his Scythe the Tyrant goes, Great Multitudes at once he mows.
1809 Ld. Byron Eng. Bards & Sc. Reviewers 632 Whet not your scythe, suppressors of our vice! Reforming saints!
1854 D. Brewster More Worlds i. 16 The swarm of human life..has never been perceptibly reduced by the scythe of famine, of pestilence, or of war.
1883 O. W. Holmes Loving-cup Song 29 Old Time his rusty scythe may whet.
3. A weapon having a long curving blade resembling a reaping hook. Obsolete exc. Historical with reference to scythed chariots (see scythed adj.).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > sharp weapon > scythe > [noun]
scythea1300
Welsh bill1464
Welsh hook?1589
α.
a1300 Havelok 2553 Hand-ax, syþe, gisarm, or spere.
a1400–50 Alexander 3058 For-þi þe chariots in þe chace choppid þaim to deth, Þe cartis þat I carpid of with þe kene sithis [v.r. sythez].
c1500 Melusine (1895) 302 But the geaunt stert vp lyghtly, in grete yre, & as geffray passed by, he smote hys hors behynd with hys sythe of fyn stele.
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 30 They use axeltrees armed at both ends with hookes and sithes.
Compounds
C1.
a. Simple attributive.
(a)
scythe-blade n.
ΚΠ
a1400–50 Alexander 3023 Chariotis..sett aþire side full of sythe-bladis, Kene keruand as knyfes.
1829 W. Scott Rob Roy (new ed.) I. Introd. p. xcii He supplied the want of guns and swords with scythe-blades set straight upon their handles.
scythe-handle n.
ΚΠ
1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry (1721) II. 51 It is also good for Rake and Scythe-handles.
scythe-smith n.
ΚΠ
1633 J. Clarke tr. Two-fold Praxis 24 in Dux Grammaticus In the street next above, bee shoesmiths, sythesmiths, bladesmiths, cutlers.
1890 J. Amphlett Hist. Clent 119 Philip Cix, also a scythesmith.
scythe-stick n.
ΚΠ
1831 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Agric. (1857) §7799 Scythe-sticks and stones for sharpening scythes, hay-knives.
scythe-stroke n. (also figurative)
ΚΠ
1913 D. H. Lawrence Mowers in Smart Set Nov. 12 There's four men mowing down by the river; I can hear the sound of the scythe strokes, four Sharp breaths swishing.
1940 W. S. Churchill Into Battle (1941) 216 This armoured scythe-stroke almost reached Dunkirk—almost but not quite.
scythe-sweep n.
ΚΠ
1856 Allingham Mowers 7 A scythe-sweep, and a scythe-sweep, We mow the grass together.
scythe-work n.
ΚΠ
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. ii. 461 Their flowerie Fleece Affoords vs Syth-worke, yeerley twice or thrice.
1904 E. Rickert Reaper 183 He was stiff with scythe-work.
(b)
scythe-like adj.
ΚΠ
a1836 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) XXIII. 464/2 Giving the edge of the fin a scythe-like shape.
b. Objective.
scythe-bearing adj.
ΚΠ
a1649 W. Drummond Poems (1656) 165 The old Lucadian Syth-bearing Sire..for thee feeles flames of sweet desire.
scythe-grinder n.
ΚΠ
1619 MS Canterbury Marriage Licences Robert Brooke of Goudhurst, sightgrinder.
scythe-maker n.
ΚΠ
1619 MS Canterbury Marriage Licences Edward Male of Goudhurst, sightmaker.
1833 J. Holland Treat. Manuf. Metal II. 55 Hay and straw knives are manufactured by the scythe-makers.
scythe whetting n.
ΚΠ
1857 E. FitzGerald Let. to Cowell 27 June One wakes to the tune of the Mower's Scythe-whetting.
c. Similative.† scythe-billed adj. Obsolete† scythe-tusked adj. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1668 W. Charleton Onomasticon Zoicon 103 Falcinellus..the Scyth-bill'd Heron.
scythe-shaped adj.
ΚΠ
1815 S. Brookes Introd. Conchol. 80 The animal of Anomia tridentata has two flat arms somewhat scythe-shaped.
ΚΠ
a1625 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Two Noble Kinsmen (1634) i. i. 79 Most dreaded Amazonian, that ha'st slaine The Sith-tuskd-Bore.
d. Instrumental, as scythe-armed adj.
ΚΠ
1811 W. Scott Don Roderick xxv. 29 The scythe-armed Giant turned his fatal glass.
1838 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece (new ed.) IV. xxxiii. 304 Scythe-armed chariots.
C2. Special combinations.† scythe-bill n. Obsolete a suggested name (after modern Latin Falcinellus) for the Glossy Ibis.† scythe-land n. Obsolete (see quot.).† scythe-sand n. Obsolete (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Ciconiiformes (storks, etc.) > [noun] > family Threskiornithidae (ibises and spoonbills) > member of (ibis) > miscellaneous types of
snipe?a1475
scythe-bill1678
glossy ibis1785
hadada1801
black curlew1829
pelican ibis1881
waldrapp1924
1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. 295 The Falcinellus of Gesner and Aldrovand, which we may English, The Sithe-Bill.
scythe-chariot n. Historical = scythed chariot (see scythed adj.).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > military vehicles > [noun] > war chariot
charet1535
chariot1581
wagon1591
scythe-chariot1695
1695 J. Edwards Disc. conc. Old & New-Test. III. iv. 215 With these Sithe-Chariots they mowed Men down.
scythe-cradle n. a framework of wood fastened to a scythe for carrying the mowings clean into the swath.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > harvesting equipment > [noun] > reaping tools > scythe > cradle
cradle1573
rifle1573
scythe-cradle1695
grain-cradle1824
crete1887
1695 W. Kennett Parochial Antiq. at Carecta In Kent a Sithe-cradle, or rack of wood fastened to a sithe for carrying the mow'd barley clean into the swath.
1884 Cent. Mag. Jan. 447/1 Grain was reaped with sickles, though ‘scythe-cradles’ were not unknown.
scythe-hook n. a reaping-hook with a smooth cutting blade as contrasted with one in which the edge is cut into teeth.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > harvesting equipment > [noun] > reaping tools > scythe
scythec725
lea1483
sheathea1660
peck1784
scythe-hook1844
shear1887
1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm III. 1079 The smooth-edged sickle, or scythe-hook.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement of area > [noun] > a system or process of measuring land > area able to be mown with one scythe
scythe-land1597
1597 J. Skene De Verborum Significatione at Husbandland Hvsbandland conteinis commonly 6. aikers of sok & syith land: That is of sik land as may be tilled with ane pleuch, or may be mawed with ane syith.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > shaping tools or equipment > [noun] > sharpening > sand
scythe-sand1686
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > harvesting equipment > [noun] > reaping tools > scythe > tool or material for sharpening
rifle1459
stricklea1642
scythe-sand1686
rip1688
straik1844
1686 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. iv. 154 An excellent sand to whet their Sithes, whence it has the denomination of Sithe-Sand.
scythe-sickle n. = scythe-hook n.
ΚΠ
1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm III. 1055 The scythe sickle is so called, because of its being provided with a cutting edge.
scythe-snathe n.
ΚΠ
1845 S. Judd Margaret ii. i. 214 His bare head pillowed on a scythe-snath.
scythe-sned n. dialect the curved handle to which the blade of the scythe is attached.
ΚΠ
1907 ‘J. Halsham’ Lonewood Corner xix. 212 Ne'er he nor his father afore him ever bought a scythe-sned.
scythe-stone n. a whetstone for scythes; also in combinations.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > shaping tools or equipment > [noun] > sharpening > whetstone
whetstonec725
hone-stone1393
filourc1400
hone1440
rub1502
rubber1553
knife-stone1571
stone1578
oilstone1585
block1592
oil whetstone1601
greenstone1668
scythe-stone1688
water stone1703
sharping-stone1714
Scotch stone1766
honer1780
Turkey hone1794
polishing-slate1801
burr1816
Turkey stone1816
German hone1817
Arkansas1869
rag1877
rock1889
slipstone1927
1688 London Gaz. No. 2413/4 Who hath formerly been an Apprentice to a Scythe-Stone Cutter near Darby.
1879 F. Rutley Study of Rocks xiv. 278 The Rotherham stone is worked for building purposes and for grindstones, and that at Hart Hill for scythe-stones.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
scythev.
/sʌɪð/, U.S. /saɪð/ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > harvesting > harvest [verb (intransitive)] > reap or mow > use scythe
scythe1574
to strike out1840
to strike in1845
1574 J. Baret Aluearie M 483 He that sietheth with a bill, or he that vseth a sieth or hooke, a mower, falcarius.
2.
a. transitive. To cut or mow with a scythe.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > harvesting > harvest (a crop) [verb (transitive)] > reap or mow a crop > mow with scythe
moweOE
swinge1573
cradle1746
skim1831
scythe1892
1609 W. Shakespeare Louers Complaint in Sonnets sig. Kv Time had not sithed all that youth begun.
1892 W. E. Henley Song of Sword 9 Where the tall grain is ripe Thrust in your sickles:..Scything and binding The full sheaves of sovranty.
b. figurative. To cut down swiftly and drastically.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > reduce in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (transitive)] > reduce severely
slash1906
scythe1970
1970 Daily Tel. 12 Mar. 22/3 Net attributable profits are scythed from £602,000 to £210,000.
3. intransitive. To move with a sweeping motion as of one mowing with a scythe.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement in circle or curve > move in a circle or curve [verb (intransitive)] > move in curve
windc1385
sweep1725
rip1798
swing1810
swipe1825
scythe1897
arc1954
1897 R. Kipling Captains Courageous v, in McClure's Mag. Jan. 231/1 The foresail scythed back and forth against the blue sky.
1946 J. W. Day Harvest Adventure vii. 107 ‘Pleu-eu! Pleu-eu! Pleu!’ and whimbrel went scything off low across the water, putting up a mixed lot of sandpipers.
1955 E. Pound Classic Anthol. ii. 94 Feckless Huns town'd in Tsiao, seized Huo, lacking provisions, Scythed into Hao up to its border.
1966 Gillman & Haston Eiger Direct v. 107 John scythed up on his skis and stopped in a spray of snow.
1978 Antiques & Art Monitor 28 Oct. 23/3 High~rise aerial perspectives of a motorway scything through a city.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.c725v.1574