scytheman

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a person who cuts grass or grain with a scythe; a mower

   At sunrise, the scytheman began cutting the meadow in long, even sweeps.

2. 2
   noun

   a literary name for Father Time or Death, traditionally represented as a figure carrying a scythe

   The poet imagines every mortal bargaining in vain with the old scytheman.

A compound of scythe + man: literally, "a man who uses a scythe." Scythe descends from Old English sīthe or sigthe, from a Germanic root connected with cutting. Because both Father Time and the personification of Death carry scythes, scytheman also developed a literary figurative use.

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