SAW  , a

tool for cutting wood or other material, consisting of a blade with the edge dentated or toothed and worked either by hand or by steam, water, electric or other power (see Tools) . The word in O . Eng. is saga and appears, in such forms as Dutch zaag, Dan. sav, Ger . Sage, in Teutonic languages . The root is sag-, to cut, which is seen in Lat. secare . It is also the base of such English words as scythe, sickle, &c . It must be distinguished from " saw," a maxim, proverb, which is etymologically and in meaning a " saying," from the Teutonic base sag-, to say; cf . " Saga," Ger. sagen .