swimmer

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English swimmer, formed from Middle English swimmen (“to swim”) + -er,^[2][3] that is from the verb swim and the agent suffix -er.^[4][5][6] The OED compares Middle Low German swemmer, Middle High German swimmer, German Schwimmer and Dutch zwemmer.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person or animal that swims in the water: 1377, in Langland's Piers Plowman.^[4] Etymonline dates it to the late 14th century, for a person or bird that swims.^[6]

Semantic evolution

From 1399, again in Langland, it was used of an animal that habitually swims, and later of swimming birds as a group.^[4] Johnson (1755) gave "one who swims", quoting Bacon and Browne.^[7] From the late 16th century it also named things connected with floating: the swimming bladder of a fish (1579), an angler's float (before 1609) and a device that keeps something afloat (1740);^[4] the fish bladder sense survived in Somerset dialect, and in Lincolnshire and Rutland a swimmer was a flat piece of wood floated in a pail to stop the liquid splashing out.^[8][4] A cup filled to the brim was a swimmer from 1682 to 1706,^[4] and in thieves' cant from about 1698 it was a counterfeit coin, perhaps because the metal was light enough to float.^[9][4] Zoologists used it from 1816 for a swimming organ of an animal, and entomologists from 1815 for water spiders and swimming beetles.^[4][6] In brewing it was a vessel of ice floated on the wort (1881).^[4] In the 20th century swimmer, later swimmers, became slang for a swimming costume (1929), now chiefly Australian,^[4][9] and colloquially, from 1987, a sperm.^[4] Etymonline notes that swimmist (1881) seems to have been confined to the sports pages.^[6]

Timeline

• 1377 – a person or animal that swims.^[4]
• 1399 – an animal adapted for swimming.^[4]
• 1579 – the swimming bladder of a fish (now dialect).^[4]
• before 1609 – an angler's float.^[4]
• 1682 – a cup brimming over (obsolete by 1706).^[4]
• c. 1698 – thieves' cant, a counterfeit coin (obsolete by 1819).^[9][4]
• 1816 – a swimming organ of an animal.^[4][6]
• 1929 – a swimming costume.^[4][9]
• 1987 – colloquial, a sperm.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person or animal that swims, especially one of a stated ability: She is a strong swimmer.^[2][5][4]
2. A body part, such as a specialised appendage, used for swimming.^[2][4]
3. swimmers (chiefly Australian, informal): a swimsuit.^[4][9]
4. (colloquial) A sperm.^[4]
5. (obsolete, 1699–1819) In thieves' cant, a counterfeit coin.^[4][9]

Word family

• backswimmer
• nonswimmer
• swimmeret

Related words

• swim

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ 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)
9. ^ a b c d e f Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com