Old English sicol, probably a West Germanic borrowing (Middle Dutch sickele, Dutch sikkel, Old High German sihhila, German Sichel) from Vulgar Latin *sicila, from Latin secula "sickle" (source also of Italian segolo "hatchet"), from PIE root *sek- "to cut" (see section, n.). Applied to curved or crescent-shaped things from mid-15c. Sickle-cell anemia is first recorded 1922.