Meanings
present singular third person swaips · participle present swaiping · participle past swaiped · past swaiped
- UKdialectalobsoleteTo walk proudly; to sweep along.
Och, for his swaiping! That was a lucky job for him, —the ill-favored, foul-mouthed blackguard, heretic and villain thief!
1842, Anthony Ganilh, Ambrosio de Letinez, page 1432 more examples
But Ayas swaiped aside among the crowd, Aflush with hate and burning discontent: And many murmured at him: for, said they, “Hamil at least doth surely mean us well!“
1883, Welbore St. Clair Baddeley, Bedoueen Legends: And Other Poems, page 40It is in good manners to swaip / But only when just celebrating / Without malice and arrogance / To show accomplishment once
2013, Percarus
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*swaipaną“to sweep, swing, hurl, fling”
- Old Englishswāpan“to sweep”
- Old Norsesveipa“to sweep, stroke”
- Middle Englishswaipen“to strike, scourge”
- Englishswaip
From Middle English swaipen (“to strike, scourge”), from Old Norse sveipa (“to sweep, stroke”) and/or Old English swāpan (“to sweep”); both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *swaipaną (“to sweep, swing, hurl, fling”). Doublet of swoop.
More words from Middle English, Old Norse, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
swaip. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/swaip
“swaip.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/swaip. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “swaip,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/swaip.
Source: swaip on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.