Etymologically
Log in

swap

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 15:35. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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
  • 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)