An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Säge

by Friedrich Kluge

Säge, feminine, ‘saw,’ from the equivalent Middle High German sëge, sage, Old High German sëga, saga, feminine; compare Dutch zaag, Anglo-Saxon sage, feminine, and sagu, feminine, English saw; Old Icelandic sǫg, feminine (Gothic *saga, feminine, is wanting). A derivative of an Aryan root sek, sok, whence also Latin secâre, ‘to cut,’ securis, ‘hatchet’; see further under Sichel. The ä of Modern High German Säge is based, as is indicated by the modern Alemannian dialects, on ë; hence there is the same gradation in Old High German sëga and saga as in Old High German rëhho and Anglo-Saxon racu (see Rechen), or in High German Nacken and English neck. With the Aryan root sek, sok, are also connected in Teutonic, Old High German sahs, ‘sword’ (see Messer), English scythe, and Anglo-Saxon sîðe, from sigþe; compare Old Icelandic sigðr, masculine, ‘sickle,’ Old High German sëh, Middle High German sëch, ‘ploughshare,’ and the cognates of Sense.