swain

See also: Swain

English

Alternative forms

• swaine, swein (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English swayn, swain, sweyn, swein, from Old English sweġen (attested also as personal name Swein, Sweġen), from Old Norse sveinn, from Proto-Germanic *swainaz (“relative, young man, servant”), from Proto-Indo-European *swé (“oneself; separate; apart”), thus properly one's own.

Cognate with Danish svend (“hireling, young man”), Norwegian svein (“lad, young man, servant”) Icelandic sveinn (“boy, lad, servant”), Swedish sven (“swain, servant”), Low German Sween, dialectal German Schwein, Old English swān (“swineherd, lad”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sweɪn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪn

Noun

swain (plural swains)

1. (obsolete) A young man or boy in service; a servant.
2. (obsolete) A knight's servant; an attendant.
3. (archaic) A country labourer; a countryman, a rustic.
   • c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:

     theſe that ſeeme but ſilly country Swaines,
     May haue the leading of so great an hoſte,
     As with their waight ſhal make the mountains quake.

4. (poetic) A rural lover; a male sweetheart in a pastoral setting.
   • a. 1722, Matthew Prior, “Chanson Francoise. Translated”, in H. Bunker Wright, Monroe K. Spears, editors, The Literary Works of Matthew Prior, Second edition, volume I, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1971, page 687:

     Why thus from the Plain does my Shepherdess rove
     Forsaking Her Swain and neglecting his love?

   • 1911, Max Beerbohm, chapter II, in Zuleika Dobson‎^[1]:

     “Oh, dear Miss Dobson, will you but accept my hand, all these things shall be yours—the cards, the canister, the goldfish, the demon egg-cup—all yours!” Zuleika, with ravishing coyness, answered that if he would give her them now, she would “think it over.” The swain consented, and at bed-time she retired with the gift under her arm.

   • 2016 Zack Woods (as Donald "Jared" Dunn), "Founder Friendly", Silicon Valley episode 19

     You're the belle of the ball, and these are all your swains, hoping for a glimpse of ankle.

Derived terms

• boatswain
• coxswain
• swaining
• swainish
• swainling
• swainmote
• swainship

Translations

young man or boy, young shepherd, young attendant

• Bulgarian: момък (bg) m (momăk)
• Czech: panoš m
• Polish: giermek (pl) m pers
• Slovak: panoš m
• Spanish: zagal m

sweetheart

• Czech: nápadník (cs) m
• Polish: wiejski kochanek m pers

Anagrams

• Sawin, Wains, inaws, iwans, saw in, wains

Middle English

Noun

swain

1. alternative form of swayn