yodan verb with 'tsu' ending (archaic)
Archaic verb meaning to kill animals for meat; not used in modern Japanese. Equivalent to modern 屠る (ほふる) or 屠殺する (とさつする).
古語では、獣を屠つことを「さかつ」と言った。
In old language, slaughtering a beast was called 'sakatsu'.
yodan verb with 'tsu' ending (archaic)
analyze; dissect
Archaic extended meaning: to examine something in detail, like dissecting an idea. Extremely rare; modern equivalents include 分析する (ぶんせきする) or 解剖する (かいぼうする).
古典では、物事を細かく調べることを「擺つ」と表記することもあった。
In classical texts, examining something in detail was sometimes written as '擺つ'.
Modern verb for 'to slaughter'; さかつ is its archaic predecessor.
Modern Sino-Japanese compound for 'to slaughter'; more formal than ほふる.
Standard modern verb for 'to analyze'; replaces the archaic さかつ in sense 2.
The historical derivation is uncertain. The kanji 屠 and 擺 are associated with the meanings 'slaughter' and 'spread out/analyze', respectively, but the word itself is obsolete and its origin is unclear.