Etymology

swarm

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Today it means: A large number of insects or other bugs (e.g. centipedes), especially when in motion or (for bees) migrating to a new colony. Full definition →

Middle English swarm ← Old English swearm ← Proto-West Germanic *swarm
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*swarmijaną“to swarm”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*swarmijan
  3. Old English · inherited fromswirman“to swarm”
  4. Middle English · inherited fromswarmen
  5. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*swer-“to buzz, hum”
  6. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*swarmaz“swarm, dizziness”
  7. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*swarm
  8. Old English · inherited fromswearm“swarm, multitude”
  9. Middle English · inherited fromswarm
  10. English todayswarm

From Middle English swarm, from Old English swearm (“swarm, multitude”), from Proto-West Germanic *swarm, from Proto-Germanic *swarmaz (“swarm, dizziness”), from Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“to buzz, hum”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Swoorm (“swarm”), Dutch zwerm, German Schwarm, Danish sværm, Swedish svärm, Icelandic svarmur (“tumult, swarm”), Latin susurrus (“whispering, humming”), Lithuanian surma (“a pipe”), Russian свире́ль (svirélʹ, “a pipe, reed”). The verb is from Middle English swarmen, swermen, from Old English swirman (“to swarm”), from Proto-West Germanic *swarmijan, from Proto-Germanic *swarmijaną (“to swarm”), from the noun. Cognate with Scots swairm, swerm (“to swarm”), Dutch zwermen, German schwärmen, Danish sværme, Swedish svärma.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*swer- all →

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Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.