swind

English

Etymology

From a variant of swint (“to squint”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈswɪnd/
• Rhymes: -ɪnd

Verb

swind (third-person singular simple present swinds, present participle swinding, simple past and past participle swinded)

1. (UK, dialectal, Lancashire) To squint

Anagrams

• winds

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Middle English

Etymology

From Old English swindan (“to waste away, languish”), from Proto-Germanic *swindaną. Cognate with Danish svinde (“to dwindle, vanish”), Dutch zwinden (“to disappear, vanish”), German schwinden (“to decrease, shrink, vanish”), Low German swinnen (“to decrease, shrink, vanish”), Norwegian svinne (“to disappear, vanish”), Swedish svinna (“to disappear, vanish”). See also swindle.

Verb

swind (third-person singular simple present swinds, present participle swinding, first-/third-person singular past indicative swand or swinded, past participle swund or swunden or swinded)

1. To languish, waste away, also disappear, vanish.
   • Old English Homilies (c1175)

     Ure swinc and ure tilþe is ofte iwoned to swinden.

     Our swink and our tilth is oft wont to disappear.

   • Heil be þow Marie Moodur (c1390)

     Heil, lenere and louvere of largenesse / Swete and swettest þat neuer may swynde.

     Hail, lender and lover of largeness / The sweet and sweetest that never may die.

   • Saint Erkenwald (c1400)

     Bot sodenly his swete chere swyndid and faylide

     But suddenly his sweet cheer wasted away and failed.

References

• The Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary
• The Middle English Dictionary