swamp English · revision 15449

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=1624}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈswɒmp/ ''(UK)''; /ˈswɑmp/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is uncertain.^(Etymonline) It may represent an Old English [[m|ang|*swamp]], cognate with [[non|svǫppr|t=sponge, fungus]] and [[sv|svamp]], from [[gem-pro|*swampuz]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)^(NODE 1998) from a root meaning spongy, also seen in [[grc|σομφός|tr=somphós|t=spongy, porous]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) It is traditionally compared with [[sump]] and Middle English [[m|enm|sompe|t=morass]], probably from [[dum|somp]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) Hoad links it with dialect swamp, sunk.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Low ground in which water collects: 1624, in Captain John Smith's ''Generall Historie of Virginia'', in Barnhart and the OED;^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) earlier in the compound swamwatyr, swamp water, before 1500 (about 1500 in Etymonline).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A mushroom was called a swamp in 1631, a rare sense.^(OED 1989) The verb first meant to be lost in a swamp (1688), then to fill with water or submerge (1772–84),^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and figuratively to overwhelm, from 1818, in Todd's revision of Johnson's dictionary.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Swampland is American English from 1663, and swampy from 1697, in Dampier.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1500 – swamwatyr.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1624 – swamp.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1663 – swampland.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1772–84 – to swamp, submerge.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1818 – to overwhelm.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An area of permanently wet, low-lying ground, often overgrown or partly wooded; a [[marsh]] or [[bog]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A situation full of difficulties.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To flood or drench with water.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To overwhelm with too much of something: ''swamped with work''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of a boat, to fill with water and sink.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[swampiness]]

+ * [[swampy]]

+ * [[swampish]]

+ * [[swampland]]

+ * [[swamper]]

+ * [[swamphen]]

+ * [[swamp azalea]]

+ * [[swamp milkweed]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sump]]

+ * [[marsh]]

+ * [[bog]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Scots and northern dialect, a separate adjective swamp meant thin, slender or hollow, as of the belly after fasting.^(Wright 1898)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}