Etymology

swoop

S1W4O1O1P3

Today it means: To fly or glide downwards suddenly; to plunge (in the air) or nosedive. Full definition →

Middle English swopen ← Old English swāpan ← Proto-West Germanic *swaipan
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic*swaipaną
  2. Proto-West Germanic*swaipan
  3. Old Englishswāpan
  4. Middle Englishswopen
  5. English todayswoop

Inherited from Middle English swopen (“to sweep”), from Old English swāpan. Doublet of swaip. See also sweep, which was probably the basis for analogical restoration of /w/ in this word.

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishswopen all →

soup

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.