sickle

See also: Sickle

English

WOTD – 28 November 2016

A sickle (smaller) and a scythe (larger)

No.10: sickles (sense 2.1)

Etymology

From Middle English sikel (also assibilated in sichel), from Old English sicol, siċel, from Proto-West Germanic *sikilu, itself borrowed from Latin sēcula (“sickle”) or sīcīlis (“sickle”). Cognate with Dutch sikkel, German Sichel. Remotely related with English scythe and saw.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɪkl̩/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (UK):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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• Rhymes: -ɪkəl
• Hyphenation: sic‧kle

Noun

sickle (plural sickles)

2. (agriculture) An implement having a semicircular blade and short handle, used for cutting long grass and cereal crops.

   Synonyms: reap hook, reaping hook

   Coordinate term: scythe

   • 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 116”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC, signature H, recto:

     Lou's not Times foole, though roſie lips and cheeks
     VVithin his bending ſickles compaſſe come,
     Loue alters not with his breefe houres and vveekes,
     But beares it out euen to the edge of doome:
     If this be error and vpon me proued,
     I neuer vvrit, nor no man euer loued.

   • 1750 June 12 (date written; published 1751), T[homas] Gray, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”, in Designs by Mr. R[ichard] Bentley, for Six Poems by Mr. T. Gray, London: […] R[obert] Dodsley, […], published 1753, →OCLC, page 81:

     Oft did the harveſt to their ſickle yield,
     Their furrow oft the ſtubborn glebe has broke;
     How jocund did they drive their team afield!
     How bow’d the woods beneath their ſturdy ſtroke!

3. Anything resembling a sickle, especially:
   1. A sickle faether, any of the sickle-shaped rear feathers of the domestic cock.
   2. (poetic) The crescent moon.
      • 1847, Alfred Tennyson, “Part 1”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:

        Then, ere the silver sickle of that month
        Became her golden shield, I stole from court
        With Cyril and with Florian, unperceived.

Derived terms

• chain sickle
• chicken sickle
• hammer and sickle
• moonsickle
• sickle and hammer
• sickle-billed vanga
• sickle cell
• sickle-cell anemia
• sickle moon

Translations

agricultural implement

• Adyghe: гъупчъ (ğʷupĉ)
• Aghul: маккал (makkal)
• Albanian: drapër (sq) m, kmesë (sq) f
• Arabic: مِنْجَل m (minjal)

  Egyptian Arabic: منجلة f (mangala)

  Moroccan Arabic: منجل m (manjal)

• Aragonese: falz
• Armenian: մանգաղ (hy) (mangaġ)
• Aromanian: seatsiri f, seatsirã f, cusor, dirpani
• Assamese: কাচি (kasi)
• Asturian: foz f
• Atong (India): khatchi
• Azerbaijani: oraq (az)
• Bashkir: ураҡ (uraq)
• Basque: igitai
• Bats: ნამგალ (namgal), მანგალ (mangal)
• Belarusian: серп m (sjerp)
• Bengali: কাস্তে (bn) (kaste), কাচি (bn) (kaci)
• Bhojpuri: दरांती (darāntī)
• Breton: falz (br) f
• Budukh: чин (čin)
• Bulgarian: сърп (bg) m (sǎrp)
• Burmese: တံစဉ် (my) (tamcany)
• Catalan: falç (ca) f
• Chechen: марс (mars)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 鐮刀 / 镰刀 (lim⁴ dou¹)

  Dungan: ляндо (li͡ando), ляндор (li͡andor)

  Hokkien: 鍥仔 / 锲仔 (keh-á / koeh-á / koeh-á), 鐮刀 / 镰刀 (liâm-to)

  Mandarin: 鐮刀 / 镰刀 (zh) (liándāo)

• Chuvash: ҫурла (śurla)
• Crimean Tatar: orak
• Czech: srp (cs) m
• Dalmatian: secla f
• Danish: segl (da) c
• Dargwa: мирш (mirš)
• Daur: xaduur
• Dutch: sikkel (nl) f, zichel f, zicht (nl) f
• Dzongkha: ཟོརཝ (zor.w)
• Egyptian: (ẖꜣb m), (ꜣzḫ m)
• Erzya: тарваз (tarvaz)
• Esperanto: falĉileto, rikoltilo
• Estonian: sirp (et)
• Finnish: sirppi (fi)
• French: faucille (fr) f
• Galician: fouce f, fouciño m, fouzaña f
• Georgian: ნამგალი (ka) (namgali)
• German: Sichel (de) f
• Gothic: 𐌲𐌹𐌻𐌸𐌰 f (gilþa)
• Greek: δρεπάνι (el) n (drepáni)

  Ancient: δρέπανον n (drépanon), δρεπάνη f (drepánē)

• Hebrew: מַגָּל (he) m (magál)
• Hindi: दरांती f (darāntī), हँसिया (hi) m (hãsiyā)
• Hungarian: sarló (hu)
• Icelandic: sigð (is) f
• Indonesian: arit (id), sabit (id)
• Ingush: марс (mars)
• Irish: corrán m
• Italian: falce (it) f, falcetto (it) m
• Japanese: 鎌 (ja) (かま, kama)
• Kannada: ಕುಡುಗೋಲು (kn) (kuḍugōlu)
• Kazakh: орақ (oraq)
• Khinalug: чин (čin)
• Khmer: កណ្ដៀវ (km) (kɑndiəw)
• Komi-Permyak: чарла (ćarla)
• Korean: 낫 (ko) (nat)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: داس (das)

  Northern Kurdish: das (ku) f

• Kyrgyz: орок (ky) (orok)
• Lak: мухӏ (muħ), мирхь (mirx̂)
• Lao: ກ່ຽວ (lo) (kiāu), ຄຽວ (khiāu)
• Latgalian: pļautivs m
• Latin: falx (la) f, falcicula f
• Latvian: sirpis m
• Laz: მანგალი (mangali), ორაღი (oraği)
• Lezgi: мукал (mukal)
• Lithuanian: pjautuvas m
• Lombard: seghezz m
• Luxembourgish: Séchel (lb) f
• Macedonian: срп m (srp)
• Malay: sabit
• Malayalam: അരിവാൾ (ml) (arivāḷ)
• Manchu: ᡥᠠᡩᡠᡶᡠᠨ (hadufun)
• Manx: corran m
• Maori: toronaihi
• Mazanderani: داز
• Mingrelian: მაგანა (magana)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: хадуур (mn) (xaduur)

• Navajo: tlʼoh bee higéshí, tlʼoh bee yilzhéhé
• Nepali: हँसिया (hãsiyā), करौती (karautī)
• Nogai: орак (orak)
• Northern Altai: оргак (orgak)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sigd (no) m

  Nynorsk: sigd m

• Occitan: volam (oc), fauç (oc) f
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: срьпъ m (srĭpŭ)

• Oromo: haamtuu
• Ottoman Turkish: اوراق (orak), داس (das), منجل (mincel)
• Pashto: رمبي m (rambáy), کاترۍ f (kātrǝ́y), منګال m (mangãl)
• Persian: داس (fa) (dâs), منگال (mangâl) (dialectal)
• Plautdietsch: Säakjel n
• Polish: sierp (pl) m
• Pontic Greek: δρεπάνιν (drepánin)
• Portuguese: foice (pt) f
• Quechua: ichhuna
• Romanian: seceră (ro) f
• Russian: серп (ru) m (serp)
• Sardinian: falche
• Scottish Gaelic: corran m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ср̑п m

  Roman: sȓp (sh) m

• Sinhalese: කැත්ත (si) (kætta)
• Slovak: kosák m
• Slovene: srp (sl) m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: serp m

  Upper Sorbian: serp m

• Southern Altai: оргок (orgok), серип (serip)
• Spanish: hoz (es) f, falce (es) f, segur f, echona (es) f
• Svan: ნაშდა̈ქ (našdäk)
• Swahili: mundu (sw)
• Swedish: skära (sv) c
• Tagalog: karit, lingkaw, yatab
• Tajik: дос (dos)
• Tamil: அரிவாள் (ta) (arivāḷ)
• Tarifit: amjar m
• Tatar: урак (tt) (uraq)
• Telugu: కొడవలి (te) (koḍavali)
• Thai: เคียว (th) (kiao)
• Tibetan: ཟོ་ར (zo ra)
• Turkish: orak (tr)
• Turkmen: orak
• Udmurt: сюрло (śurlo)
• Ugaritic: 𐎎𐎓𐎕𐎄 (mʿṣd)
• Ukrainian: серп m (serp)
• Urdu: ہَن٘سِیا m (hansiyā), سکل f (sikal), درانتی (daranti)
• Uyghur: ئورغاق (orghaq)
• Uzbek: oʻroq (uz)
• Vietnamese: liềm (vi)
• Vilamovian: sychuł f
• Walloon: seye (wa) f, fåceye (wa) f
• Welsh: cryman m
• Yakut: сиэрпэ (sierpe)
• Yiddish: סערפּ m (serp)
• Zazaki: qaloç f

Verb

A micrograph of red blood cells of a person with sickle-cell disease, which causes some cells to assume abnormal, sickle-like crescent shapes

sickle (third-person singular simple present sickles, present participle sickling, simple past and past participle sickled)

1. (agriculture, transitive, rare) To cut with a sickle. [from 1922]

   Near-synonyms: reap, mow

2. (pathology, intransitive) Of red blood cells: to assume an abnormal crescent shape.
   • 1975, Robert Warren McGilvery, IV. 75, in Biochemistry:

     Even the cells of heterozygotes will sickle if the oxygen tension is low enough.

3. (pathology, transitive) To deform (as with a red blood cell) into an abnormal crescent shape, to cause to sickle.

Derived terms

• (transitive: to deform): sickler

Translations

to cut with a sickle

• Belarusian: жаць impf (žacʹ)
• Bulgarian: жъна (bg) impf (žǎna)
• Finnish: leikata sirpillä
• French: fauciller (fr)
• Hebrew: קָצַר (he)
• Macedonian: жнее impf (žnee)
• Polish: żąć (pl) impf
• Romanian: secera (ro)
• Russian: жать (ru) impf (žatʹ)
• Slovak: kosiť, pokosiť
• Ukrainian: жа́ти impf (žáty)

Anagrams

• Celiks, Eslick, Ickles, Leicks, ickles