swing English · revision 5868

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /swɪŋ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English swingen “to strike, fling, rush”, [[inh|ang|swingan|t=to beat, strike, scourge; to rush, fling oneself]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from [[gem-pro|*swinganą]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) which also gave Old Saxon and Old High German swingan, Old Frisian swinga and German schwingen “to swing, brandish”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Barnhart, following Pokorny, compares Avestan and Sanskrit words for encircling, from PIE *swe(n)g-, *swe(n)k- “bend, swing”,^(Barnhart 1988) but Etymonline notes that the origin is uncertain, that the word may be only Germanic, and that Boutkan rejects Pokorny's reconstruction.^(Etymonline) The noun is Old English swinge, geswing “a stroke”, from the verb.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In Old English the verb meant both to beat or whip and to rush or fling oneself, the latter about 725 in ''Beowulf'' according to Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To flourish or brandish a weapon is from the 14th century.^(Hoad 1986) To hang so as to turn freely is from 1528,^(Barnhart 1988) to be hanged colloquially from the 1520s,^(Etymonline) and the familiar motion back and forth, as of a body hanging from a fixed point, from the 1540s,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) with the transitive sense, to cause to sway, from the 1550s.^(Etymonline) The noun, a stroke with a weapon, survives from Old English until late Middle English;^(SOED 2002) an act of swinging is from 1589 and the course of a career from 1570.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) The playground swing is from the 1680s, 1687 in Barnhart,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and ''in full swing'' from the 1560s, perhaps from bell-ringing.^(Etymonline) A free-swinging gait is from 1730, a shift of public opinion from 1899,^(Etymonline) and ''swings and roundabouts'' an early 20th-century fairground saying.^(Cresswell 2021) Swing music, big-band jazz with a lilting rhythm, is from 1933–34 in American English, though the use has been traced back to 1888;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the verb “to make happen” is by 1934.^(Etymonline) The swinger, a lively and unconventional person, is from 1965 (swinging from 1958),^(Barnhart 1988) and the 1960s also gave swinging its sense of partner-swapping.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – to rush, in ''Beowulf''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1528 – to hang so as to turn freely.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1540s – to move back and forth.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1560s – ''in full swing''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1680s – a playground swing.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1899 – a shift of public opinion.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1933 – swing music.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1965 – a swinger, a lively person.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To move back and forth while hanging from above.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To move in a sweeping curve, or to turn on a [[hinge]] or [[pivot]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To hit at something with a sweeping movement of the arm.^(AHD)

+ # To change suddenly from one opinion or mood to another.^(Collins 2023)^(AHD)

+ # ''(informal)'' To arrange or manage something successfully.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To play [[jazz]] with a lively, flowing rhythm.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A swinging movement, blow or stroke.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A seat hung from ropes or chains, on which one swings.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A sudden change, as in public opinion or in prices.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Big-band jazz music of the 1930s and 1940s, with a flowing rhythm.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[swingy]]

+ * [[swingable]]

+ * [[overswing]]

+ * [[swingle]]

+ * [[swing-wing]]

+ * [[outswing]]

+ * [[swinger]]

+ * [[upswing]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[swinge]]

+ * [[swingeing]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}