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swear

verb
/ˈswɛə(ɹ)/UK/ˈswɛɚ/US/ˈsweː/

Etymology

From Middle English sweren, swerien, from Old English swerian (“to swear, take an oath of office”), from Proto-West Germanic *swarjan, from Proto-Germanic *swarjaną (“to speak, swear”), from Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“to swear”). Cognate with West Frisian swarre (“to swear”), Saterland Frisian swera (“to swear”), Dutch zweren (“to swear, vow”), Low German swören (“to swear”), sweren, German schwören (“to swear”), Danish sværge, Swedish svära (“to swear”), Icelandic sverja (“to swear”), Russian свара (svara, “quarrel”). Also cognate to Albanian var (“to hang, consider, to depend from”) through Proto-Indo-European. The original sense in all Germanic languages is “to take an oath”. The sense “to use bad language” developed in Middle English and is based on the Christian prohibition against swearing in general (cf. Matthew 5:33-37) and invoking God’s name in particular (i.e. frequent swearing was considered similar to the use of obscene words).

  1. derived from *swer-✻ — “to swear”
  2. inherited from *swarjaną✻ — “to speak, swear”
  3. inherited from *swarjan✻
  4. inherited from swerian — “to swear, take an oath of office”
  5. inherited from sweren

Definitions

  1. To take an oath, to promise intensely, solemnly, and/or with legally binding effect.

    • The knight swore not to return to the palace until he had found the treasure.

  2. To take an oath that an assertion is true.

    • The witness swore that the person she had seen running out of the bank was a foot shorter than the accused.

  3. To promise intensely that something is true

    To promise intensely that something is true; to strongly assert.

    • I swear I don't know what you're talking about.
    • My little brother is such a pest, I swear.
    • The Bat—they called him the Bat.[…]. He'd never been in stir, the bulls had never mugged him, he didn't run with a mob, he played a lone hand, and fenced his stuff so that even the fence couldn't swear he knew his face.
  4. ›+ 10 more definitions

    1. To administer an oath to (a person).

      • Let the witness be sworn.

    2. To use offensive, profane, or obscene language.

      • An Australian was once appointed on contract, but he swore too much.

    3. A swear word.

      • You might think it funny to hear this Kanaka girl come out with a big swear. No such thing. There was no swearing in her — no, nor anger; she was beyond anger, and meant the word simple and serious.
      • [A]ccording to his kind the man would smile cynically, or look sad, or let out a swear or two.

    4. Heavy.

    5. Top-heavy

      Top-heavy; too high.

    6. Dull

      Dull; lazy; slow.

      • Rise up gueedewife, an dinna be sweer, / B'soothan, b'soothan, / An deal yir chirity t' the peer, / An awa b'mony a toon.

    7. Reluctant

      Reluctant; unwilling.

      • But faith, to glump ye I'd be sweer / I wish ye luck o' this new year
      • My father will maybe be a wee sweer to take ye in, but ye maun make your way on him the best gate ye can; he has the best stockit pantry on Teviot head, but a bit of a Laidlaw's fault, complaining aye maist when he has least reason.

    8. Niggardly.

      • For if my Pen shall turn as Sweir's their Purse / I fear this is the last I'll write in Verse

    9. A lazy time

      A lazy time; a short rest during working hours (especially field labour); a siesta.

    10. To be lazy

      To be lazy; rest for a short while during working hours.

The neighborhood

Derived

answer, beswear, could have sworn, counterswear, forswear, I swear, misswear, outswear, overswear, pinky swear, reswear, re-swear, say you swear, swearable, swear at, swear blind, swear by, swear down, swear in, swear like a cutter, swear like a pagan, swear like a sailor, swear like a trooper, swear off, swear on, swear on a stack, swear on a stack of Bibles, swear out, swearsies, swearsome, swear the peace, swear to God, swear upon, swear word, unswear, sweary, swearness, swearock

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for swear. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

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