swamp

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈswɒmp/ (UK); /ˈswɑmp/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[2] It may represent an Old English *swamp, cognate with Old Norse svǫppr (“sponge, fungus”) and Swedish svamp, from Proto-Germanic *swampuz,^[3][2][4][5] from a root meaning spongy, also seen in Ancient Greek σομφός (somphós, “spongy, porous”).^[3][2] It is traditionally compared with sump and Middle English sompe (“morass”), probably from Middle Dutch somp.^[3][2][6] Hoad links it with dialect swamp, sunk.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Low ground in which water collects: 1624, in Captain John Smith's Generall Historie of Virginia, in Barnhart and the OED;^[3][8] earlier in the compound swamwatyr, swamp water, before 1500 (about 1500 in Etymonline).^[3][2][4]

Semantic evolution

A mushroom was called a swamp in 1631, a rare sense.^[8] The verb first meant to be lost in a swamp (1688), then to fill with water or submerge (1772–84),^[3][8][2] and figuratively to overwhelm, from 1818, in Todd's revision of Johnson's dictionary.^[3][2] Swampland is American English from 1663, and swampy from 1697, in Dampier.^[3]

Timeline

• before 1500 – swamwatyr.^[3]
• 1624 – swamp.^[3][8]
• 1663 – swampland.^[3]
• 1772–84 – to swamp, submerge.^[3]
• 1818 – to overwhelm.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An area of permanently wet, low-lying ground, often overgrown or partly wooded; a marsh or bog.
2. A situation full of difficulties.

Verb

1. To flood or drench with water.
2. To overwhelm with too much of something: swamped with work.
3. Of a boat, to fill with water and sink.

Word family

• swampiness
• swampy
• swampish
• swampland
• swamper
• swamphen
• swamp azalea
• swamp milkweed

Related words

• sump
• marsh
• bog

Usage notes

In Scots and northern dialect, a separate adjective swamp meant thin, slender or hollow, as of the belly after fasting.^[9][8]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)