Sawyer
/ˈsɔːjər/noun
A person who saws wood, especially as an occupation.
Did you know?Sawyer is an old occupational word built from the tool-name *saw*, and surnames like this became hereditary in medieval England when your daily labor turned into your family identity.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
sagu
“a saw; a cutting tool with teeth”
Old English
OE
sagian
“to saw or cut with a saw”
Middle English
ME
sawiere
“a person who saws wood”
14th–15th Century
English
sawyer
“an occupational name for someone who sawed timber”
Modern English
English
sawyer
“a person who saws wood; also a hereditary surname”
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