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swine

SWYN · noun

Proto-Indo-EuropeanProto-GermanicProto-West GermanicOld EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

Origin

Swine comes from Middle English swyn or swin, from Old English swīn, tracing back through Proto-West Germanic swīn and Proto-Germanic swīną to an adjectival form of the Proto-Indo-European root suH-, meaning pig.

Journey

Beyond its literal sense for the animal, swine is now often used as a term of abuse, and in this insulting use it frequently calques the German word Schwein or words derived from it. It's also survived in a clipped form, swinefish, referring to the wolffish.

Related words

It shares its Proto-Germanic root with German Schwein, Dutch zwijn, and Swedish svin, and more distantly with Latin sūs and Ancient Greek hûs — all pointing back to the same ancient word for pig.

More words

From Proto-West Germanic

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