swath

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*swey-“to bend, turn, swing”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*swaþō“a wind-swept place; open field”
3. Old English · inherited fromswæþ
4. Middle English · inherited fromswath
5. English todayswath

From Middle English swath, swathe, from Old English swæþ, swaþu (“track; trace; footstep”), from Proto-Germanic *swaþō (“a wind-swept place; open field”), of unknown further origin. Has been derived from a Proto-Indo-European *swey- (“to bend, turn, swing”), and compared with Ancient Greek σιμός (simós, “snub-nosed”) and Welsh chwil (“reeling, staggering”), though this is uncertain, as well as the Greek comparandum being unlikely. Cognate with Dutch zwade, zwad (“swath; windrow”), German Schwade (“swath; windrow”), Icelandic svæði (“area; zone; sector; region”). other etymological information Corresponds to Middle Low German and Middle Dutch swat, Middle High German and MNG swade, NDu swad(e), Old Frisian swethe (“border”). Root meaning: trace of a cut. Attested in English since 888 in its obsolete meaning of track or trace, since 1475 in its more modern usage. Cognate with German Schwaden (“row of mown grass or grain”). No definite cognates outside Germanic languages. * See F. Kluge, Etymologisches Wörterbuch (De Gruyter), entry Schwaden, and OED.

Words from the same roots