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swan

noun
/swɒn/UK/swɑn/US

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂-der. Proto-Indo-European *swónh₂-osder. Proto-Germanic *swanaz Proto-West Germanic *swan Old English swan Middle English swan English swan 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.

  1. inherited from *swanaz✻ — “swan”
  2. inherited from *swan✻
  3. inherited from swan
  4. inherited from swan

Definitions

  1. Any of various species of large, long-necked waterfowl, of genus Cygnus (bird family

    Any of various species of large, long-necked waterfowl, of genus Cygnus (bird family: Anatidae), most of which have white plumage.

  2. One whose grace etc. suggests a swan.

  3. This bird used as a heraldic charge, sometimes with a crown around its neck (e. g. the…

    This bird used as a heraldic charge, sometimes with a crown around its neck (e. g. the arms of Buckinghamshire).

  4. ›+ 8 more definitions

    1. To travel or move about in an aimless, idle, or pretentiously casual way.

      • 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.
      • 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.

    2. To declare (chiefly in first-person present constructions).

      • "Well, I swan, man, I had a better opinion of you than that."
      • ‘She slammed the door so hard I figured a window'd break […].’ ‘I swan,’ I said.

    3. someone connected with the Sydney Swans, as a fan, player, coach, etc.

    4. A surname transferred from the nickname.

    5. A number of places in the United States

      A number of places in the United States:

    6. A local government area in Perth, Western Australia

      A local government area in Perth, Western Australia; in full, the City of Swan.

    7. someone connected with Swansea City Football Club, as a fan, player, coach, etc.

      • The Swans will doubtless recover, but they will head home this evening knowing that they didn't do themselves justice in a game that means so much to supporters.

    8. Acronym of syndrome without a name.

The neighborhood

Derived

Bewick's swan, black-necked swan, black swan, black swan event, black swan fallacy, cobswan, coscoroba swan, graceful as a swan, gwan, mute swan, New Zealand swan, nonswan, Old Swan, Swan, Swan Bay, swanbill, swan boat, Swanbrook, Swan Creek, swan-dive, swan dive, swaness, swan goose, swan grebe, swanherd, Swan Hill, swanhood, swan hopper, swan hopping, Swan Lake, swanless, swanlike, swan-like, swan-likeness, swanliness, swanling, swanly, swan maiden, swan mark, swanmark · +34 more

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at swan. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01swan02plumage03feathering04feather05birds06bird07fowl08swans

A definitional loop anchored at swan. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

8 hops · closes at swan

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA