Where does “saw” come from?

Saw comes from Middle English sawe, from Old English sagu, from Proto-Germanic sagō, from Proto-Indo-European sekʷe-, ultimately derived from the root sek-.

saw (English): A tool with a toothed blade used for cutting hard...

Definitions

  1. A tool with a toothed blade used for cutting hard...

Ancestry of “saw”, step by step

saw traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle English sawe

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishsaweAlternative form of sauf
2Old Englishsagasaw; saying; statement; story, tale; narrative
3Proto-West Germanicsagāstory
4Proto-Germanicsagǭstory
5Proto-Indo-Europeansekʷe-
6Proto-Indo-Europeansekʷ-to follow; to see; to say

via Burmese စော

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Burmeseစောearly; a title used by Shan royalty
2Old Burmeseစဝ်
3Shanၸဝ်ႈlord, lady, polite second person pronoun

Words derived from “saw

Every word from Proto-Indo-European sekʷ-