Wordwyrt

swain

/sˈweɪn/SWAYN
/sˈweɪn/SWAYN

Meaninga boy, servant

Common meaning: a country lad

Other meanings: a suitor

Journey through time

  1. Old Norse (Icelandic)sveinn‘a boy, lad, servant’source
  2. Middle Englishswainsource
  3. Englishmeaning shiftsa boy, lad, servant → a country ladswain‘a country lad’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Old Norse (Icelandic) sveinn ‘a boy, servant’.

Roots

  • sveinn Old Norse (Icelandic) “a boy, servant”

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