swap

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /swɒp/, US /swɑːp/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English swappen (“to strike, hit, hurl”),^[2][3][4] probably imitating the sound of a smart blow,^[5][4][6][7] though Barnhart calls it of unknown origin.^[2] The modern sense comes from striking hands as a sign of agreement in bargaining, as in to strike a bargain.^[2][3][7][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To strike, or to strike the hands together: probably before 1200, in Layamon.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Striking hands on a bargain is from the late 14th century,^[3][5] and to exchange or barter from 1594 in Barnhart, the 1590s in Etymonline.^[2][3] The noun first meant a blow, as swop about 1250 and swappe about 1380 in Chaucer,^[2][3] and an exchange from 1625.^[2][8] In slang, to get the swap was to be dismissed (1890).^[8] In finance a swap is an exchange of currencies or debts (1963),^[8] and the American swap meet is from 1968.^[3] Swop is a variant spelling.^[8][9]

Timeline

• probably before 1200 – to strike.^[2]
• c. 1250 – a blow (noun).^[2]
• late 14th century – to strike a bargain.^[3]
• 1594 – to exchange.^[2]
• 1625 – an exchange (noun).^[2][8]
• 1963 – a swap (finance).^[8]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To exchange one thing for another; to trade.

Noun

1. An exchange of one thing for another.
2. Something exchanged.
3. (finance) A contract in which the parties exchange liabilities, such as fixed-rate for floating-rate debts.

Word family

• swapper
• unswapped
• swap meet
• swap shop

Related words

• barter
• swop

Usage notes

In Scotland and Northumberland a swap was also an immature, half-filled pod.^[10]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ 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)