An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Sense

by Friedrich Kluge

Sense, feminine, ‘scythe,’ from Middle High German sē̆́nse, sëgense, Old High German sëgansa, feminine, ‘sickle, scythe’ (for the suffix see Ahle); corresponding to Old Saxon *sëgasna (sëgisna), Dutch zeissen, ‘scythe.’ From a Teutonic root seg, ‘to cut’ (see Säge), whence Old Icelandic sigðr, Anglo-Saxon sigðe, sîþe, feminine, English scythe, Low German sicht; primitively allied to Latin secare and securis, Aryan root sek, ‘to cut.’