swarm

Wikipedia

English

Pronunciation

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• Rhymes: -ɔː(r)m

Etymology 1

From Middle English swarm, from Old English swearm (“swarm, multitude”), from Proto-Germanic *swarmaz (“swarm, dizziness”), from Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“to buzz, hum”). Cognate with Scots swarm (“swarm”), Dutch zwerm (“swarm”), German Schwarm (“swarm”), Danish sværm (“swarm”), Swedish svärm (“swarm”), Icelandic svarmur (“tumult, swarm”), Latin susurrus (“whispering, humming”), Lithuanian surma (“a pipe”), Russian свирель (svirel', “a pipe, reed”).

Noun

swarm of locusts.

swarm (plural swarms)

1. A large number of insects, especially when in motion or (for bees) migrating to a new colony.
   • Milton

     a deadly swarm of hornets

2. A mass of people, animals or things in motion or turmoil.

   a swarm of meteorites

   • Addison

     those prodigious swarms that had settled themselves in every part of it [Italy]

Translations

large number of insects

• Armenian: պարս (hy) (pars)
• Belarusian: рой m (roj)
• Bulgarian: рой (bg) m (roj)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 群 (zh) (qún)

• Czech: roj m
• Danish: sværm (da) c
• Dutch: zwerm (nl)
• Finnish: parvi (fi)
• French: essaim (fr) m (flying insects), grouillement (fr) m (crawling insects)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Schwarm (de) m
• Greek: σμήνος (el) n (smínos)
• Hungarian: raj (hu)
• Italian: sciame (it) m, nugolo (it) m
• Japanese: 群れ (むれ, mure)
• Macedonian: рој m (roj)

• Polish: rój (pl) m
• Portuguese: enxame (pt) m, nuvem (pt) f (in flight), correição (pt) f (especially ants)
• Romanian: roi (ro)
• Russian: рой (ru) m (roj), стая (ru) f (stája)
• Scottish Gaelic: sgaoth m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: рој m

  Roman: roj m

• Slovak: roj m
• Slovene: roj (sl) m
• Spanish: enjambre (es)
• Swahili: jana (sw)
• Swedish: svärm c
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: рій m (rij)
• Volapük: (bees) kümam (vo)

a mass of people or animals in turmoil

• Danish: sværm (da) c
• Dutch: menigte (nl), massa (nl)
• Finnish: lauma (fi)
• French: nuée (fr) f, essaim (fr) m
• German: Schwarm (de) m
• Greek: στίφος (el) n (stífos), εσμός (el) m (esmós), (people) όχλος (el) m (óchlos)
• Hungarian: horda (hu), sokaság (hu)
• Japanese: 群衆 (ぐんしゅう, gunshū)
• Polish: mrowie (pl) n

• Portuguese: multidão (pt) f, enxame (pt) m, turba (pt) f, turbamulta f, turbilhão m, tropel (pt) m, roda-viva f, barafunda (pt) f
• Russian: толпа (ru) f (tolpá)
• Scottish Gaelic: (animals) sgaoth m, (people) sluagh m
• Spanish: multitud (es), muchedumbre (es), masa (es), aglomeración,
• Swahili: jana (sw)
• Ukrainian: натовп m (nátovp), юрба (uk) f (jurbá)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Mandarin:

  Simplified: 云集 (yúnjí); 蜂拥 (fēngyōng); 成群移动 (chéng qún yídòng), 大群(昆虫) (dà qún kūnchóng), (昆虫)群 (kūnchóng qún)

• Albanian: luzmë f
• Georgian: ჯგუფი (ǰgup’i)
• Serbo-Croatian: roj m
• Italian: sciame m
• Romanian: roi, stol m, f

Etymology 2

From Middle English swarmen, swermen, from Old English swierman (“to swarm”), from Proto-Germanic *swarmijaną (“to swarm”). Cognate with Scots swairm, swerm (“to swarm”), Dutch zwermen (“to swarm”), German schwärmen (“to swarm”), Danish sværme (“to swarm”), Swedish svärma (“to swarm”).

Verb

swarm (third-person singular simple present swarms, present participle swarming, simple past and past participle swarmed)

1. (intransitive) To move as a swarm.
2. (intransitive) To teem, or be overrun with insects, people, etc.
   • Spenser

     Every place swarms with soldiers.

3. (transitive) To fill a place as a swarm.
4. (transitive) To overwhelm as by an opposing army.
5. To climb by gripping with arms and legs alternately.
   • W. Coxe

     At the top was placed a piece of money, as a prize for those who could swarm up and seize it.

   • 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, chapter 55

     She called out, and a boy came running along. He swarmed up a tree, and presently threw down a ripe nut. Ata pierced a hole in it, and the doctor took a long, refreshing draught.

6. To breed multitudes.
   • Milton

     Not so thick swarmed once the soil / Bedropped with blood of Gorgon.

Translations

to move as a swarm

• Finnish: vyöryä

• Italian: pullulare (it)

to teem, or be overrun with insects

• Hungarian: hemzseg (hu)
• Italian: pullulare (it)

• Maori: rearea, ngahua, ngahue
• Ukrainian: кишіти (kyšíty)

to fill a place as a swarm

• Finnish: vyöryä sisään

• Maori: ngahua, ngahue, rearea

to overwhelm

• Finnish: vyöryttää

to climb by gripping with arms and legs

• Finnish: kiivetä (fi) nelinkontin
• Hungarian: mászik (hu)

• Russian: карабкаться (ru) n, impf (karábkatʼsja)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: grouiller, pulluler
• Spanish: enjambrar (es)
• Portuguese: formigar, pulular (pt), apinhar (pt), enxamear, infestar (pt), encher (pt)

See also

• Appendix:English collective nouns

Anagrams

• warms