swan
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /swɒn/
- (General American) IPA(key): /swɑn/
Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -ɒn
Etymology 1
From Middle English swan, from Old English swan, from Proto-West Germanic *swan, from Proto-Germanic *swanaz (“swan”, literally “the singing bird”), from Proto-Indo-European *swonh₂-/*swenh₂- (“to sing, make sound”).
Cognate with West Frisian swan, Low German Swaan, swan, Dutch zwaan, German Schwan, Danish svane, Norwegian svane, Swedish svan. Related also to Old English ġeswin (“melody, song”), Old English swinsian (“to make melody”).
Further cognates include (possibly) Russian звон (zvon, “ring, chime”); Latin sonus (“sound”), Sanskrit स्वन् (svan, “sound”). Doublet of sound.
Noun
- Any of various species of large, long-necked waterfowl, of genus Cygnus (bird family: Anatidae), most of which have white plumage.
- (figuratively) One whose grace etc. suggests a swan.
- (heraldry) This bird used as a heraldic charge, sometimes with a crown around its neck (e. g. the arms of Buckinghamshire).
Hyponyms
Holonyms
Derived terms
- Bewick's swan (Cygnus bewickii)
- black-necked swan (Cygnus melancoryphus)
- black swan (Cygnus atratus)
- black swan event
- black swan fallacy
- coscoroba swan
- graceful as a swan
- mute swan (Cygnus olor)
- New Zealand swan
- Old Swan
- Swan
- swan boat
- Swan Creek
- swan-dive
- swan dive
- swan goose (Anser cygnoides)
- swan grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis)
- swanherd
- swan hopper
- swan hopping
- Swan Lake
- swan-like
- swanlike
- swan-likeness
- swanliness
- swanling
- swanly
- swan maiden
- swan mark
- swan moth (Euproctis similis)
- swan mussel (Anodonta cygnea)
- Swan Nebula
- swan-neck
- swan neck
- swan neck deformity
- swan-necked
- swan-necked grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis)
- swannery
- swanness
- swannish
- swannishness
- swan plant (Gomphocarpus physocarpus)
- Swan River
- swansdown
- swan shot
- swanskin
- swan song
- swansong
- swans’
- swan upper
- swan upping
- Swan Village
- swan’s
- swan’s neck
- trumpeter swan (Cygnus buccinator)
- tundra swan (Cygnus columbianus)
- whistling swan (Cygnus columbianus)
- White Swan
- whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus)
Translations
waterfowl of the genus Cygnus
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Verb
swan (third-person singular simple present swans, present participle swanning, simple past and past participle swanned)
- (intransitive) To travel or move about in an aimless, idle, or pretentiously casual way.
- 2010, Lee Rourke, The Canal, Melville House Publishing, →ISBN, unnumbered page:
- He swans around that stinking office in his expensive clothes that are a little too tight for comfort, he swans around that stinking office without a care in the world.
- 2013, Tilly Bagshawe, One Summer’s Afternoon, HarperCollin, →ISBN:
- One of the few strokes of good luck Emma had had in recent days was the news that Tatiana Flint-Hamilton, her only real rival for top billing as 'most photographable girl' at today's event had decided to swan off to Sardinia instead, leaving the limelight entirely to Emma.
- 2022, Ling Ma, “G”, in Bliss Montage, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN:
- On the other side: the rich, beautiful tapestry of WASP culture that constituted Levis's life—friends playing horseshoes at backyard cocktail parties, where girls swanned in chaise longues, clinking their gin and tonics.
Usage notes
- In the sense “to travel”, usually used as part of the phrase “to swan about” or “to swan around”.
Etymology 2
Probably from dialectal I s’wan, a corruption of I shall warrant; or possibly from a minced form of I swear on.
Alternative forms
Verb
swan (third-person singular simple present swans, present participle swanning, simple past and past participle swanned)
- (US, dialectal or colloquial) To declare (chiefly in first-person present constructions).
- 1907 December, J. D. Archer, “Foiling an eavesdropper”, in Telephony, volume 14, page 345:
- "Well, I swan, man, I had a better opinion of you than that."
- 1940, Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely, Penguin, published 2010, page 214:
- ‘She slammed the door so hard I figured a window'd break […] .’ ‘I swan,’ I said.
Anagrams
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Etymology 1
From Old English swan, from Proto-West Germanic *swan, from Proto-Germanic *swanaz.
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Noun
swan (plural swannes)
Descendants
References
- “swan, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-06-11.
Etymology 2
From Old English swān.
Noun
swan
- Alternative form of swon (“pigherder”)
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Etymology 1
From Proto-West Germanic *swan, from Proto-Germanic *swanaz, probably from Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- (“to sound, resound”). Compare Old Saxon swan (Low German Swaan), Dutch zwaan, Old High German swan (German Schwan), Old Norse svanr (Swedish svan).
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Noun
swan m
Declension
Strong a-stem:
Synonyms
Descendants
Etymology 2
From Proto-Germanic *swainaz. Doublet of sweġen, a borrowing from Old Norse.
Pronunciation
Noun
swān m
Descendants
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Etymology
From Old Frisian *swan, from Proto-West Germanic *swan, from Proto-Germanic *swanaz, probably from Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- (“to sound, resound”).
Noun
swan c (plural swannen, diminutive swantsje)
Derived terms
- briedswan
- gûlswan
- kloekswan
- klokswan
- knobbelswan
- trompetswan
Further reading
- “swan”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011
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