scythe
n.
Old English siðe, sigði, from Proto-Germanic *segithoz (cognates: Middle Low German segede, Middle Dutch sichte, Old High German segensa, German Sense), from PIE root *sek- "to cut" (see section, n.). The sc- spelling crept in early 15c., from influence of Latin scissor "carver, cutter" and scindere "to cut." Compare French scier "saw," a false spelling from sier.
v.
1570s, "use a scythe;" 1590s "to mow;" from scythe, n.. From 1897 as "move with the sweeping motion of a scythe." Related: Scythed; scything.