swarm

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English swarm, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old English swearm (“swarm, multitude”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Germanic *swarmaz (“swarm, dizziness”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“to buzz, hum”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Swoorm (“swarm”), Dutch zwerm, German Schwarm, Danish sværm, Swedish svärm, Icelandic svarmur (“tumult, swarm”), Latin susurrus (“whispering, humming”), Lithuanian surma (“a pipe”), Russian свире́ль (svirélʹ, “a pipe, reed”).

The verb is from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English swarmen, swermen, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old English swierman (“to swarm”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Germanic *swarmijaną (“to swarm”), from the noun. Cognate with Scots swairm, swerm (“to swarm”), Dutch zwermen, German schwärmen, Danish sværme, Swedish svärma.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /swɔɹm/
• IPA^(key): /swɔːm/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)m

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.
   • (Can we date this quote by Milton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     a deadly swarm of hornets

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

   a swarm of meteorites

   • (Can we date this quote by Addison and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

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

3. (computing) A group of nodes sharing the same torrent in a BitTorrent network.

Derived terms

• aswarm

Translations

large number of insects

• Afrikaans: swerm
• Armenian: պարս (hy) (pars)
• Belarusian: рой m (roj)
• Bulgarian: рой (bg) m (roj), рояк (bg) m (rojak)
• Catalan: eixam (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 群 (zh) (qún)

• Czech: roj (cs) m
• Danish: sværm (da) c
• Dutch: zwerm (nl)
• Finnish: parvi (fi)
• Franco-Provençal: èssem m
• French: essaim (fr) m (flying insects), grouillement (fr) m (crawling insects)
• Friulian: scuam m
• Galician: enxame (gl) m
• Georgian: ნაყარი (naq̇ari)
• German: Schwarm (de) m
• Greek: σμήνος (el) n (smínos)

  Ancient: σμῆνος n (smênos), ἑσμός m (hesmós)

• Hebrew: נְחִיל (he) m (neḥíl)
• Hungarian: raj (hu)
• Hunsrik: Schwaarem m
• Ido: esamo (io)
• Irish: saithe f, scaoth f
• Italian: sciame (it) m, nugolo (it) m
• Japanese: 群れ (ja) (むれ, mure)
• Latin: exāmen n
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Luxembourgish: please add this translation if you can
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Macedonian: рој m (roj)
• Maori: pōī
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sverm (no) m, bisverm m

  Nynorsk: sverm m, bisverm m

• Occitan: eissam (oc) m
• 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), ста́я (ru) f (stája)
• Sardinian: schissura f
• Scottish Gaelic: sgaoth m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: рој m

  Roman: roj (sh) m

• Sicilian: sciamu (scn) m, assamu (scn) m
• Slovak: roj m
• Slovene: roj (sl) m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: roj m

• Spanish: enjambre (es)
• Swahili: jana (sw)
• Swedish: svärm (sv) c
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: рій m (rij)
• Venetian: same m, samo m
• Vilamovian: please add this translation if you can
• Volapük: (bees) kümam (vo)
• Welsh: haid f
• Yiddish: please add this translation if you can

a mass of people or animals in turmoil

• Czech: dav (cs) m, hejno (cs) n, houf (cs) m, zástup (cs) m
• 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)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Polish: mrowie (pl) n
• Portuguese: multidão (pt) f, enxame (pt) m, turba (pt) f, turbamulta f, turbilhão (pt) m, tropel (pt) m, roda-viva f, barafunda (pt) f
• Russian: толпа́ (ru) f (tolpá)
• Scottish Gaelic: (animals) sgaoth m, (people) sluagh m
• Spanish: multitud (es), muchedumbre (es), masa (es), aglomeración (es)
• Swahili: jana (sw)
• Tamil: திரள் (ta) (tiraḷ)
• Ukrainian: на́товп m (nátovp), юрба́ (uk) f (jurbá)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Albanian: ^{(please verify)} luzmë (sq) f
• Georgian: ^{(please verify)} ჯგუფი (ǯgupi)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} sciame (it) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 云集 (zh) (yúnjí), ^{(please verify)} 蜂拥 (zh) (fēngyōng), ^{(please verify)} 成群移动 (chéng qún yídòng), ^{(please verify)} (昆虫)群 (kūnchóng qún)
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} roi (ro), ^{(please verify)} stol (ro) n
• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} roj (sh) m

Verb

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

1. (intransitive) To move as a swarm.
   • 1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLC:

     There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy. Mail bags, so I understand, are being put on board. Stewards, carrying cabin trunks, swarm in the corridors.

2. (intransitive) To teem, or be overrun with insects, people, etc.
   • (Can we date this quote by Edmund Spenser and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     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.
   • (Can we date this quote by William Coxe and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     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.
   • (Can we date this quote by John Milton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

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

Translations

to move as a swarm

• Armenian: վխտալ (hy) (vxtal)
• Catalan: eixamenar-se
• Czech: hemžit se, rojit se impf
• Finnish: vyöryä
• French: essaimer (fr) (bees only)
• Hungarian: rajzik (hu)
• Italian: pullulare (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latin: exāminō
• Occitan: essaimar
• Portuguese: enxamear
• Russian: кишеть (ru) impf (kišetʹ)
• Slovene: rojiti (sl)
• Spanish: enjambrar (es)
• Walloon: samer (wa) (bees only)

to teem, or be overrun with insects

• Armenian: վխտալ (hy) (vxtal)
• Czech: hemžit se, být plný
• Dutch: zwermen (nl)
• Hungarian: hemzseg (hu)
• Italian: pullulare (it)
• Low German:

  German Low German: swarmen

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Maori: rearea, ngahua, ngahue, pōhūhū, tāmuimui, pūrau
• Portuguese: fervilhar (pt), pulular (pt)
• Russian: кише́ть (ru) impf (kišétʹ)
• Slovene: rojiti (sl)
• Ukrainian: киші́ти (kyšíty)

to fill a place as a swarm

• Armenian: վխտալ (hy) (vxtal)
• Finnish: vyöryä sisään
• Hungarian: elözönöl
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Maori: ngahua, ngahue, rearea
• Portuguese: infestar (pt)
• Russian: кишеть (ru) impf (kišetʹ)

to overwhelm

• Finnish: vyöryttää
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

to climb by gripping with arms and legs

• Czech: šplhat (cs) impf
• Finnish: kiivetä nelinkontin
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: mászik (hu)
• Russian: кара́бкаться (ru) n or impf (karábkatʹsja)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} grouiller (fr), ^{(please verify)} pulluler (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} enjambrar (es)

See also

• Appendix:English collective nouns

Anagrams

• warms

---

Middle English

Alternative forms

• swrame, swarme

Etymology

From Old English swearm, from Proto-Germanic *swarmaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /swarm/, /swɛrm/

Noun

swarm (plural swarmes)

1. A swarm (large, moving group of bees)
2. (rare) A large group of people.

Derived terms

• swarmen

Descendants

• English: swarm
• Scots: swairm

References

• “swarm (n.)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-11-24.