sithe

See also: síthe and sìthe

English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /saɪð/

Etymology 1

From the Anglo-Saxon siġþe meaning scythe. The spelling with <sc-> was influenced by unrelated Latin word scissor (“cutter”), and scindere (“to split”).

Noun

sithe (plural sithes)

Obsolete spelling of scythe.
- 1669, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Samuel Simmons, Book X:
  […] and, whatever thing the sithe of time mows down, devour unspared.
- 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter I, in Romance and Reality. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 7:
  Jupiter with his eagle, Juno with her peacock, Time with his sithe, had much outgrown their original proportions;...
- 1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 179:
  Old Klas used often to shake his head at him and say, "John! John! what are you about? The spade and sithe will be your sceptre and crown, and your bride will wear a garland of rosemary and a gown of striped drill."

Verb

sithe (third-person singular simple present sithes, present participle sithing, simple past and past participle sithed)

Obsolete spelling of scythe.

Derived terms

sitheman

References

“sithe”, in Collins English Dictionary, 2011–present.

Etymology 2

Noun

sithe (plural sithes)

Alternative spelling of sith.

Verb

sithe (third-person singular simple present sithes, present participle sithing, simple past and past participle sithed)

(obsolete) To journey, travel, wayfare.

Etymology 3

Regional pronunciation of sigh.

Verb

sithe (third-person singular simple present sithes, present participle sithing, simple past and past participle sithed)

(dialect, dated) To sigh.
- c1475, The Macro Plays, Mankindː
  I may both sithe and sob; this is a piteous remembrance

Derived terms

sithingly

Noun

sithe (plural sithes)

(obsolete) A sigh.

References

“sī̆then, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 4

Clipping of sithen.

Conjunction

sithe

Alternative spelling of sith (“since”).
- 1561, Thomas Norton, Thomas Sackville, Gorboduc; or, Ferrex and Porrex‎^[1], Smith, Lucy Toulmin, editor, Heilbronn, published 1883, act 1, scene 2, page 13:
  Wherefore (O kyng) I speake as one for all, / Sithe all as one do beare you egall faith:

Anagrams

shite, Thiès, shiet, Heits, Hites, sheit, Sethi, heist, seith, Thies, Heist

Middle English

Noun

sithe

This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.
- c. 1324, Bevis of Hampton‎^[2], TEAMS Middle English Texts, archived from the original on 6 December 2024, lines 905–906:
  The king thar-of was glad and blithe / And thankede him ful mani a sithe,
- c. 1450, “Thomas of India”, in The Towneley Plays‎^[3], Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse, archived from the original on 21 January 2025, line 85:
  The holy gost before vs glad / full softly on his sithe;