swarthy

Etymology

Most dictionaries take it as an unexplained alteration of the obsolete swarty,^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} itself formed from English swart + -y.^{[8][9][7][10]} The OED, revising the entry in 2023, calls the origin uncertain: either that variant of swarty or the same suffix added to swarth, itself a variant of swart, and it notes that this change of final consonant has few parallels.^[10] Klein too derives it from swarth, a dialect form.^[11] The adjective swart is from Old English sweart (“black, dark”),^[4][11][5] from Proto-Germanic *swartaz,^[12][5] which also gave German schwarz, Dutch zwart, Old Norse svartr and Gothic 𐍃𐍅𐌰𐍂𐍄𐍃 (swarts, “black”).^[4][11][12] Etymonline and Klein trace it to Proto-Indo-European *swordo- (“dirty, dark, black”), the source of Latin sordēs (“dirt”) and of sordid;^[4][11][12] Ayto says only that it may be.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a person or complexion, dark: 1572, in Higgins's translation of Virgil in the revised edition of Huloet's Dictionary.^[10] Barnhart's first date is 1581, against 1572 for swarty,^[9] and Merriam-Webster's is 1587.^[7] Etymonline says the 1580s.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The first record concerns a person's complexion, and the more general "dark in colour" followed in 1577.^[10] The derivative swarthiness is found in the same year,^[9] and Etymonline finds swarthness as early as the 1520s.^[4] As swart could mean "wicked" in Old English,^[4] swarthy too was used figuratively for wicked, malignant or unlucky from 1615 to 1756.^[10][6] Johnson (1755) defined it as "dark of complexion; black; dusky; tawney".^[13] A verb, to darken the skin, appears in Cowley (1663).^[10] Since before 1890 it has also been applied to an intense, sharp flavour, especially of wine.^[10] The form swarty lingered sporadically until the late 19th century.^[9]

Timeline

• 1572 – dark in complexion.^[10] Barnhart dates this to 1581 and Merriam-Webster to 1587.^[9][7]
• 1577 – dark in colour, blackish.^[10]
• 1615 – figuratively, wicked or unfortunate (obsolete by 1756).^[10]
• 1663 – verb, to darken the skin.^[10]
• before 1890 – of a flavour, intense or sharp.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having a dark complexion or dark skin: a swarthy sailor with a grey beard.^[14][7][10]
2. Dark in colour; dusky.^[14][7][10]
3. Of a flavour or of wine, intense, pungent or sharp.^[10]
4. (obsolete, 1615–1756) Wicked or malignant.^[10][6]

Verb

1. To darken a person's skin; to make swarthy.^[10]

Word family

• swarthily
• swarthiness

Related words

• swart
• sordid

Usage notes

The OED gives both /ˈswɔːði/ and /ˈswɔːθi/ for British English,^[10] and Merriam-Webster has a variant with the sound of th in thin.^[7]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
12. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins