swan English · revision 16141

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 700, Epinal Glossary|origins=gem-pro *swanaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /swɒn/ ''(UK)''; /swɑn/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|swan]], [[inh|ang|swan]],^(OED 2026)^(AHD 2024) from [[gem-pro|*swanaz]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) a word common to the Germanic languages:^(OED 2026) compare [[osx|suan]], [[dum|swāne]], [[nl|zwaan]], [[goh|swan]], [[de|Schwan]], [[non|svanr]] and [[sv|svan]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026) The OED notes that the name seems to have first meant the "musical" swan, as an agent noun from a root meaning to sound,^(OED 2026) and Etymonline and Klein take it as "the singing bird", from [[ine-pro|*swen-|t=to make sound]], the source of [[la|sonō|t=to sound]].^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) If so it is related to [[m|ang|swinsian|t=to make melody]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Hoad and Ayto give the root connection only as possible.^(Hoad 1986)^(Ayto 2005)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The bird: an Old English gloss of about 700 in the Epinal Glossary is the OED's first example;^(OED 2026) Barnhart dates Old English ''swan'' to about 750, in the poem ''Phoenix''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Chaucer used the swan as a type of whiteness and excellence, often against the [[crow]] or [[goose]], from about 1386,^(OED 2026) and alluded to the [[myth]] that it sings just before it dies from about 1374.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) From that belief a poet came to be called a swan (1613),^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) as in "the Swan of Avon" for Shakespeare,^(Collins 2023) and ''[[swan song]]'', a last work or performance, appears in Carlyle in 1831, probably translating [[de|Schwanengesang]].^(Barnhart 1988) The verb ''to swan'', to travel about aimlessly or for pleasure, began as military slang of the Second World War for [[armoured]] vehicles moving freely,^(ODE 2010)^(SOED 2002) with a first date of 1942 in Merriam-Webster.^(MWU 2024)^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 700 – Old English ''swan'', the bird.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1374 – the swan's song before death, in Chaucer.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED)

+ * 1556 – the [[constellation]] [[Cygnus]].^(OED 2026)^(HTOED)

+ * 1613 – a poet, a bard.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED)

+ * 1831 – ''swan song''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1898 – ''swan dive''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1942 – the verb, to wander about idly.^(MWU 2024)^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large [[waterbird]] of the genus ''Cygnus'', with [[webbed]] feet, a long slender [[neck]] and usually white [[plumage]].^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(literary)'' A [[poet]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(chiefly British, informal)'' To go about from place to place idly or ostentatiously.^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[swanlike]]

+ * [[swan-dive]]

+ * [[swanherd]]

+ * [[swannery]]

+ * [[swansdown]]

+ * [[swanskin]]

+ * [[swan boat]]

+ * [[swan maiden]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate American and dialect verb, used in ''I swan!'' (I declare!), is recorded from 1823; it is probably northern English ''Is' wan'', "I shall warrant", later taken as a mild substitute for [[swear]].^(OED 2026)^(AHD 2024) In Thames tradition, ''swan-upping'' is the marking of swans to show ownership.^(Hoad 1986)^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}