swager

S1W4A1G2E1R1
Midlands/ˈswɛ(ː)ɡ(.)ə(ɹ)//ˈswäɡ(.)əɹ/

noun

A brother-in-law.

“Mehe swager wooner deh nowt at aw fer 'is kenship. 'e is a coont.”

Scrabble 10

Meanings

swager1

nounswager (plural swagers)

plural swagers

  1. dialectalrusticA brother-in-law.

    Mehe swager wooner deh nowt at aw fer 'is kenship. 'e is a coont.

swager2

nounswager (plural swagers)

plural swagers

  1. A tool that performs swaging.

Swager3

proper nounSwager (plural Swagers)

plural Swagers

Origin

swager · noun

  1. Proto-Indo-European*swéḱuros“husband's father”
  2. Proto-Germanic*swēgraz“husband's brother”
  3. Englishswager

Recorded in neither Old English nor Middle English. Perhaps a borrowing from Dutch or Low German, but this derivation is rather unlikely due to the presence of the words like sweġer (“mother-in-law”) and swēor (“father-in-law”) in some East Midlands dialects, which are derived from attested Old English and Middle English words sweger and sweor, respectively. Ultimately derived from Proto-Germanic *swēgraz (“husband's brother”), from Proto-Indo-European *swéḱuros (“husband's father”).

Full word history & related roots →

Swager · proper noun

* As a Dutch surname, from zwager (“son-in-law”). * As a German surname, Americanized from Schwager, with the same meaning as the Dutch word. Compare Swoger, Swagger.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

swager. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/swager

MLA

“swager.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/swager. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “swager,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/swager.

Source: swager on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.