"S" Word Origins

swiftly

Middle English

From Middle English swiftly, swyftely, swiftliche, from Old English swiftlīċe (“swiftly”), equivalent to swift + -ly.

swiftness

Origin

From Middle English swiftnesse, swyftnesse, from Old English swiftnes (“swiftness”), equivalent to swift + -ness.

swig

Old English · 1500

Origin uncertain, first recorded in the mid-1500s; possibly related to Old English swelgan, "to swallow."

swike

Origin

From Middle English swiken, from Old English swīcan (“to wander, depart, cease from, yield, give way, fail, fall short, be wanting, abandon, desert, turn traitor, deceive, rebel”), from Proto-West Germanic *swīkwan, from Proto-Germanic *swīkwaną (“to dodge, swerve, avoid, betray”), from Proto-Indo-European *sweyg- (“to turn, move around, wander, swing”).

swill

Old English

From Old English swillan, "to wash or gargle," related to the word swallow.

swim

Old English

From Old English swimman, "to swim or float" — an ancient Germanic verb shared, in some form, by nearly every northern European language.

swimmer

Origin

From swim plus the agent suffix -er, meaning "one who swims."

swimming

Middle English

From Middle English swymmynge. Equivalent to swim (“to move through water”, verb) + -ing (suffix forming gerunds).

Swims

Origin

Variant of Swim.

swimsuit

Origin

A straightforward compound of swim and suit.

swindle

German

A back-formation from swindler, itself borrowed from German Schwindler, related to schwindeln ("to be dizzy" or, figuratively, "to deceive").

swindler

German · 1700

Borrowed from German Schwindler in the late 1700s, from a word meaning "one who deceives."

Swindon

Old English

From Old English swīn (“swine, pig”) + denu (“valley”), similar to the name Swinden. The first element could instead be from the Old Norse personal name Sveinn, or its Old English equivalent swān.

swine

Latin

From Old English swin, "pig" — an ancient word going back to a shared Indo-European root for the animal, related to the Latin sus and Greek hys.

swing

Old English

From Old English swingan, meaning "to strike, whip, or fling about" — related to the now-rare word swink, "to labor."

swinge

Origin

From Middle English swengen (“to strike”), from Old English swenġan (“to dash, strike; to cause to swing”), from Proto-West Germanic *swangijan (“to cause to swing”).

swinger

German

Perhaps an Americanized spelling of German Schwinger or Zwinger.

swinging

Origin

The sexual practice is so called after the custom in swing dancing of changing partners after each dance, unlike traditional ballroom dance styles where one has a single partner.

swink

Origin

From Middle English swynken, from Old English swincan (“to labour, work”), from Proto-Germanic *swinkaną (“to swing, bend”). Cognate with Old Norse svinka (“to work”).

swipe

Old English

From an earlier form swip, related to Old English words meaning "to strike or lash" — the same root gives us sweep and swoop.

swirl

Old Norse

Probably from Old Norse, related to a word meaning "to swing or twirl"; the same family gives us swarm.

swirly

Origin

From swirl plus the adjective-forming suffix -y.

swish

Origin

Imitative in origin — the word was invented to mimic the sound it describes.

Swiss

Middle French · 1500

Adopted from Middle French Suisse in the early 1500s, alongside the older form Switzer borrowed directly from German.

switch

Dutch · 1800

Possibly from Middle Dutch swijch, "twig" — the earliest meaning was a thin flexible rod, and the electrical/mechanical sense came much later, around 1800.

switchback

Origin

The noun is derived from switch (“to turn (a train) from one railway track to another using a switch”, verb) + back (“so as to reverse direction and return”, adverb). The verb is derived from the noun.

switchblade

Origin

A compound of switch (in the sense of a quick mechanical action) and blade.

switchboard

Origin

A compound of switch and board, describing a board fitted with switching equipment.

switcheroo

Origin

Formed by adding the playful suffix -eroo to switch.

swith

Origin

From Middle English swith, swithe, from Old English swīþe (“very much, exceedingly, severely, violently, fiercely”), from Proto-West Germanic *swinþā, from Proto-Germanic *swinþê (“strongly”), from Proto-Indo-European *swento- (“active, healthy”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian swied (“very”), West Frisian swiid (“very”), Dutch zwijd (“very, extremely”), Low German swied (“quite, very”), Dutch gezwind (“quick, swift”). Not related to superficially similar English swift.

swither

Origin

From Middle English *swithren, from Old Norse sviðra (“to burn, singe”). Related to Middle English swithen (“to burn, scorch, singe”), from Old Norse svíða (“to burn”).

Switzerland

German · 1500

Formed from Switzer (an old word for a Swiss person) plus -land, adapted from German Schwytzerland in the 1500s.

swive

Origin

From Middle English swiven, from Old English swīfan (“to move, sweep, wend, revolve”), from Proto-Germanic *swībaną (“to wipe, sweep”). Cognate with Old Frisian swīva, swīfa (“to waver”), Old Norse svīfa (“to drift, ramble, rove”), Norwegian Nynorsk sviva (“to rotate, wander”). Related to Old English swift (“swift”), Middle English swyvel (“swivel”).

swivel

Old English

From Old English swifan, "to revolve," combined with the instrumental suffix -el; ultimately related to swift.

swiving

Origin

Equivalent to swive + -ing.

swole

Origin

From earlier swoll, from Middle English swal, swall, swalle (simple past tense), and suoll, suolle, swalle, swol, swole, swolle, iswolle, yswolle (past participle), inflected forms of swellen (“to swell”), from Old English sweall (simple past tense), from Proto-Germanic *swall, first and third person singular preterite of Proto-Germanic *swellaną (“to swell”); further origin uncertain.

swollen

Old English

The past participle of swell, from Old English geswollen.

swollenness

Origin

From swollen + -ness.

swoon

Middle English

From Middle English swoune, related to an old verb describing the act of fainting.

swoonsome

Origin

From swoon + -some.

swoop

Old English

From Old English swāpan, "to sweep" — the same root that gave us the word sweep itself.

swoosh

Origin

An imitative word — it was coined to mimic the sound itself.

swop

Origin

Blend of swing + hip-hop.

sword

Old English

From Old English sweord, going back to a very old Germanic root for "sword," related to words like Schwert in German and zwaard in Dutch.

swordfish

Old English

From Old English sweordfisc, literally "sword" + "fish," named for its long, blade-like snout.

swordplay

Old English

From Old English sweordplega, literally "sword" + "play" (in the sense of combat or sport).

swordsman

Origin

Formed from sword + man, meaning literally "a man of the sword."

swordsmanship

Origin

Formed from swordsman + the suffix -ship, meaning "skill or quality of."