Meanings
schwa1
plural schwas · alternative shwa
- human sciencesAn indeterminate central vowel sound as the "a" in "about", represented as /ə/ in IPA.
However, word-final unstressed schwa is deleted even by the speakers from South Albania, though to different degrees and dependant on the speech style[…]
2006 April 27, Sylvia Moosmüller, Theodor Granser, “The spread of Standard Albanian: An illustration based on an analysis of vowels”, in Language Variation and Change, volume 18, number 2, Cambridge University Press, →DOI1 more example
The participle has also, owing to the accent, the lightest possible forms; but here there was no reduplication, and so in class I. the "schwa" took the form e before single mutes or fricatives, and elsewhere o.
1882, B. W. Wells, “The Ablaut in English”, in Transactions of the American Philological Association, page 67Synonyms: natural vowel, neutral vowel
present singular third person schwas · participle present schwaing · participle past schwaed · past schwaed · alternative shwa
- rarehuman sciencesTo be reduced to schwa.
schwa2
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn indeterminate central vowel sound as the "a" in "about", represented as /ə/ in IPA.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Classical Syriacܫܘܳܝܳܐ (š'waya)
- Hebrewשווא (š’wā)
- GermanSchwa
- Englishschwa
Borrowed from German Schwa, from Hebrew שווא / שְׁוָא (shva, šəwā, “(mark indicating reduction or absence of a vowel)”), borrowed from Classical Syriac ܫ̈ܘܰܝܳܐ (š'wayyā, literally “even, equal”), in Syriac a term for a sign consisting of two vertical dots used to separate parts of a sentence. Doublet of shva.
More words from German, Classical Syriac
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic شْوَا
- شْوَا (šwā)indeterminate central vowel
Bulgarian шва
- шва (šva)indeterminate central vowel
Catalan vocal neutra, schwa
- vocal neutraindeterminate central vowel
- schwaindeterminate central vowel
Chinese Mandarin 中央元音, 涮音
- 中央元音 (zhōngyāng yuányīn)indeterminate central vowel
- 涮音 (shuànyīn)indeterminate central vowel
Czech šva
- švaindeterminate central vowel
Dutch sjwa, doffe e
- sjwaindeterminate central vowel
- doffe eindeterminate central vowel
Esperanto ŝvao
- ŝvaoindeterminate central vowel
Finnish švaa
- švaaindeterminate central vowel
French e muet, schwa
- e muetindeterminate central vowel
- schwaindeterminate central vowel
German Schwa
- Schwaindeterminate central vowel
Hebrew שווא \ שְׁוָא
- שווא \ שְׁוָא (shva)indeterminate central vowel
Hindi श्वा
- श्वा (śvā)indeterminate central vowel
Hungarian svá
- sváindeterminate central vowel
Indonesian pepet
- pepetindeterminate central vowel
Italian schwa, scevà
- schwaindeterminate central vowel
- scevàindeterminate central vowel
Japanese シュワー
- シュワー (shuwā)indeterminate central vowel
Korean 슈와
- 슈와 (syuwa)indeterminate central vowel
Persian واکهٔ بیرنگ, شوا
- واکهٔ بیرنگindeterminate central vowel
- شوا (švâ)indeterminate central vowel
Polish szwa
- szwaindeterminate central vowel
Portuguese schwa, xevá
- schwaindeterminate central vowel
- xeváindeterminate central vowel
- xuáindeterminate central vowel
- cheváindeterminate central vowel
Russian шва
- шва (šva)indeterminate central vowel
Slovak šva
- švaindeterminate central vowel
Spanish schwa
- schwaindeterminate central vowel
Swedish schwa
- schwaindeterminate central vowel
Ukrainian шва
- шва (šva)indeterminate central vowel
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with schwa
All rhymes →Cite this entry
schwa. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/schwa
“schwa.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/schwa. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “schwa,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/schwa.
Source: schwa on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.