swike

Meanings

verbswike (third-person singular simple present swikes, present participle swiking, simple past swoke, past participle swicken)

present singular third person swikes · participle present swiking · past swoke · participle past swicken

dialectalobsoletetransitiveTo deceive, cheat; betray.
Synonyms: double-cross, sell out, stab in the back, assfuck, betray, burn, cop out, cross out
dialectalobsoletetransitiveTo stop, cease.
Synonyms: desist, halt, anchor, astand, blin, brake, cease, desist

adjectiveswike (comparative more swike, superlative most swike)

comparative more swike · superlative most swike

dialectalobsoleteDeceitful; treacherous.
Synonyms: guiled, perfidious, trothless, beguiling, deceitful, deceptious, deceptive, deceptory

nounswike (plural swikes)

plural swikes

ScotlanddialectalDeceit; treachery.
Synonyms: perfidy, prodition, traitory, betrayal, breach of promise, breach of trust, double-dealing, Judas kiss
dialectalobsoleteA deceiver; betrayer, traitor.
The Saxon Chronicle contradicts itself as to Algar's outlawry, stating in one passage that he was outlawed without any kind of guilt, and in another that he was outlawed as swike, or traitor, and that he made a confession of it before all the men there gathered.
1848, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Harold, the Last of the Saxons
Synonyms: rat, renegade, treasonist, backstabber, betrayer, cockatrice, double-crosser, quisling
dialectalobsoleteA hiding place; den; cave.

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo deceive, cheat; betray.

verbTo stop, cease.

adjectiveDeceitful; treacherous.

nounDeceit; treachery.

nounA deceiver; betrayer, traitor.

Origin

Proto-Indo-European*sweyg-“to turn, move around, wander, swing”
Proto-Germanic*swīkwaną“to dodge, swerve, avoid, betray”
Proto-West Germanic*swīkwan
Old Englishswīcan“to wander, depart, cease from, yield, give way, fail, fall short, be wanting, abandon, desert, turn traitor, deceive, rebel”
Middle Englishswiken
Englishswike

From Middle English swiken, from Old English swīcan (“to wander, depart, cease from, yield, give way, fail, fall short, be wanting, abandon, desert, turn traitor, deceive, rebel”), from Proto-West Germanic *swīkwan, from Proto-Germanic *swīkwaną (“to dodge, swerve, avoid, betray”), from Proto-Indo-European *sweyg- (“to turn, move around, wander, swing”).

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

Full word history & related roots →