Etymology

swan

S1W4A1N1

Today it means: Any of various species of large, long-necked waterfowl, of genus Cygnus (bird family: Anatidae), most of which have white plumage. Full definition →

Middle English swan ← Old English swan ← Proto-West Germanic *swan
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swan · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*swenh₂-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*swónh₂-os
  3. Proto-Germanic*swanaz
  4. Proto-West Germanic*swan
  5. Old Englishswan
  6. Middle Englishswan
  7. English todayswan

From Middle English swan, from Old English swan, from Proto-West Germanic *swan, from Proto-Germanic *swanaz (“swan”, literally “the singing bird”), from Proto-Indo-European *swonh₂-/*swenh₂- (“to sing, make sound”). Cognate with West Frisian swan, Low German Swaan, swan, Dutch zwaan, German Schwan, Danish svane, Norwegian svane, Swedish svan. Related also to Old English ġeswin (“melody, song”), Old English swinsian (“to make melody”). Further cognates include (possibly) Russian звон (zvon, “ring, chime”); Latin sonus (“sound”), Sanskrit स्वन् (svan, “sound”). Doublet of sound.

swan · verb2

Probably from dialectal I s’wan, a corruption of I shall warrant; or possibly from a minced form of I swear on.

Swan · noun, proper noun3

From swan, the bird. * (surname): An English nickname from the swan bird.

Swan · noun4

Clipping of Swansea.

Words from the same roots

Old Englishswan all →

SwanageSwanwickSwanmoreSwanbourneSwancottSwanfordSwynnerton

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.