swelt

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /swɛlt/
• Rhymes: -ɛlt

Etymology 1

From Middle English swelten, from Old English sweltan, from Proto-Germanic *sweltaną. Cognate to Dutch zwelten (“to die”).

Verb

swelt (third-person singular simple present swelts, present participle swelting, simple past swelted or swolt, past participle swelted or swolten)

1. (obsolete outside dialectal) To die.
2. (obsolete outside dialectal) To succumb or be overcome with emotion, heat, etc.; to faint or swelter
   • 1567 Arthur Golding; Ovid's Metamorphoses Bk. 1; line 571:

     Immediatly in smoldering heate of Love the t'one did swelt,

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Bishop Hall to this entry?)

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Edmund Spenser to this entry?)

Etymology 2

Verb

swelt

1. (obsolete) simple past tense of swell

Anagrams

• welts