swift

Pronunciation

• IPA: /swɪft/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English swift (“moving quickly”),^[2][3][4] related to swīfan (“to move in a course, sweep”) (see swivel),^[2][5][6] perhaps originally “turning quickly”, from Proto-Germanic *swip- with a past-participle suffix.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Moving quickly: about 725, in Beowulf.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a surname by the mid-12th century,^[3] and prompt or ready to act without delay from the mid-14th century.^[3] The adverb is from about 1380.^[2] The bird, from its rapid flight, is from 1668, the mid-17th century in NODE,^[7][3][6] and was regarded as a bird of ill omen.^[3] Earlier, from the 16th century, a newt or swift-running lizard was called a swift.^[7][5] Obsolete swiftship, the ability to run fast, is from about 1200.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 725 – fast-moving.^[2]
• mid-14th century – prompt.^[3]
• c. 1380 – the adverb.^[2]
• 1530 – a lizard.^[7]
• 1668 – the bird.^[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Moving or able to move very fast; fast.
2. Happening quickly or promptly: a swift response.

Noun

1. A fast-flying bird with long, narrow wings, of the family Apodidae.

Word family

• swiftly
• swiftness
• swift-footed
• swiftlet
• swift fox
• chimney swift

Related words

• swivel
• sweep

Usage notes

A separate nautical verb swift, to tighten with a rope, is probably of Scandinavian origin, related to Old Norse svipta.^[4][8]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press