sweem

S1W4E1E1M3

verb

To swoon, faint; be giddy.

OriginMiddle English swemen ← Old English *swǣman ← Proto-West Germanic *swaimijan →
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Meanings

verbsweem (third-person singular simple present sweems, present participle sweeming, simple past and past participle sweemed)

present singular third person sweems · participle present sweeming · participle past sweemed · past sweemed

  1. UKdialectalTo swoon, faint; be giddy.
nounsweem (plural sweems)

plural sweems

  1. UKdialectalA swoon, fainting; a state of giddiness or faintness.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*sweh₁-“to move, sway”
  2. Proto-Germanic*swaimijaną
  3. Proto-West Germanic*swaimijan
  4. Old English*swǣman
  5. Middle Englishswemen
  6. Englishsweem

From Middle English swemen, from Old English *swǣman, from Proto-West Germanic *swaimijan, from Proto-Germanic *swaimijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sweh₁- (“to move, sway”). Cognate with Scots sweem, soom (“to spin at high speed; float”), Icelandic sveima (“to float, hover; wander, roam”).

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic

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Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Weems
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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