WHAT IS A SCISSOR and WHAT IS A SHEAR?
The word “scissor” apparently comes from the Latin word “cisoria,” meaning a cutting instrument, and the spelling is due to confusion with the Latin word “Scissor,” a form of the verb “scinder,” meaning to cut. The word appears in Old French between 842-1300 A.D. as “Cisoires,” from which the Modern French word “Ciseaux” derives. In late Middle English, about 1400 A.D., there is found reference to “sisours” and “cysowres.” The word “shears” apparently has quite a different derivation, originating from the Germanic/Teutonic root “Sker,” which later changed to “Skeresa.” In Old English, the word became “Scear.” The word in German is today “Schere.” Today’s modern dictionaries define a scissor as “A cutting implement consisting of two blades joined by a swivel pin that allows the cutting edges to be opened and closed” while a shear is defined as “A pair of scissors” and “Any of various implements or machines that cut with a scissor like action, often used in the plural”.
