swann.

Brit.

/swɒn/, U.S.

/swɑn/

Forms: Old English– swan; also Old English swann, swon, suon, Old English, Middle English suan, Middle English swane, Middle English–1600s swanne, 1500s swonne.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.

Etymology: Common Germanic (not recorded for Gothic): Old English swan, swǫn, strong masculine = Old Frisian *swon (East Frisian swon, North Frisian, West Frisian swaan), Old Saxon suan, Middle Low German swan, swâne, strong and weak masculine, swôn, strong masculine, (Low German swaan), Middle Dutch swâne (Dutch zwaan), Old High German *swan, swon, strong masculine, swana, weak feminine (Middle High German swane, swan, weak masculine, German schwan, strong masculine, dialect schwane, schwone < ), Old Norse svanr (poetic) strong masculine (Norwegian svon (masculine), svana (feminine), Danish svane, masculine, feminine, Middle Swedish, Swedish svan, masculine) < Germanic *swanaz strong masculine, *swanon- weak masculine, or *swanôn- weak feminine The name was apparently applied originally to the ‘musical’ swan, having the form of an agent-noun < Germanic swan- < Idg. swon-: swen-, represented by Sanskrit svánati (it) sounds, Latin sonit (it) sounds, (sonĕre, later sonāre), Irish sennaim I make music, Old English geswin melody, song, swinsian to make melody.

a. A large web-footed swimming bird of the genus Cygnus or subfamily Cygninæ of the family Anatidæ, characterized by a long and gracefully curved neck and a majestic motion when swimming; esp. C. olor, C. gibbus, or C. mansuetus, with pure white plumage in the adult, black legs and feet, and a red bill surmounted by a black knob, named specifically the Domestic, Mute, or Tame Swan.Other important species are Bewick's swan n. Cygnus (Olor) bewicki. trumpeter swan n. Cygnus (Olor) buccinator, of North America (see trumpeter n. Compounds). whistling swan n. (a) of Europe, C. (O.) musicus or ferus, also called Wild Swan, †Elk, or Whooper; (b) of North America, C. (O.) americanus or columbianus.Swans' quills were used for feathering arrows; hence †arrows of swan.black-necked swan: see the first element. See also black swan n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Cyginae (swans) > [noun] > member of genus Cygnus (miscellaneous) > cygnus olor (common swan)

swanc700

Apollo's swan?1592

mute swan1785

queen-bird1830

the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Cyginae (swans) > [noun] > member of genus Cygnus (miscellaneous) > cygnus cygnus (whooper)

elk1552

whooper1553

whistling swan1785

whooping swan1802

trumpeter swan1842

trumpeter1891

the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Cyginae (swans) > [noun] > member of genus Cygnus (miscellaneous)

black-necked swan1785

Bewick's swan1830

c700 Epinal Gloss. (O.E.T.) 700 Olor, suan.

OE Phoenix 137 Ne magon þam breahtme byman ne hornas, ne hearpan hlyn, ne hæleþa stefn ænges on eorþan, ne organan, swegleoþres geswin, ne swanes feðre, ne ænig þara dreama þe dryhten gescap gumum to gliwe in þas geomran woruld.

c1050 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 459/22 Olor, swon, ilfetu, swan.

c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 1726 Biforn hem com þe beste mete Þat king or cayser wolde ete; Kranes, swannes, ueneysun.

c1340 Nominale (Skeat) 838 Cyne recifle, swan tissith.

c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 206 A fat swan loued he best of any roost.

a1425 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (Pierpont Morgan) xii. xi[i] Schipmen troweþ, þat it bodeþ good, yf þey meteþ swannes in peryl of schipbreche.

a1450 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (Bodl.) Þe swanne putteþ doune his heed into þe water and secheþ his mete.

1451 Lincoln Diocese Documents 57 I wil my nevew Robert constabull haf Al my qwhite Swannes.

1459 Paston Lett. I. 482 viij. schefe arrowys of swanne.

1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Swanne, cygnus..some take this to be the elke, or wilde swanne.

1552–3 in A. Feuillerat Documents Office of Revels Edward VI (1914) 138 Pennes of swannes quylles.

?1564 Proclam. Elizabeth I Conserv. Quenes Swannes (single sheet) It is ordeyned, that no man shal take no gray swannes nor white swannes flying.

1593 in A. J. Kempe Losely MSS (1836) 308 All straie swans, all swans unmarked, all wild swans, all tame swans that fly, all swans of felons..are the master of the swans right.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vii. 438 The Swan with Arched neck Between her white wings mantling proudly, Rowes Her state with Oarie feet.

1674 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words 95 The Elk, Hooper, or wild Swan: Cygnus ferus, this bird is specifically distinct from the tame Swan.

1718 M. Prior Alma i, in Poems Several Occasions (new ed.) 333 If You Dine with my Lord May'r, Roast-Beef, and Ven'son is your Fare; Thence You proceed to Swan, and Bustard.

1785 T. Pennant Arctic Zool. II. ii. 542 The Whistling Swan carries its neck quite erect.

1785 T. Pennant Arctic Zool. II. ii. 542 The Mute Swan, or that which we call Tame, is found in a wild state in some parts of Russia.

1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iv. x. 140 So shoots through the morning sky the lark, Or the swan through the summer sea.

1830 Yarrell in Trans. Linn. Soc. 16 453 Side view of the sternum and trachea of Bewick's Swan.

1860 Ld. Tennyson Tithonus in Cornhill Mag. Feb. 176 And after many a summer dies the swan.

b. In classical mythology, the swan was sacred to Apollo (hence Apollo's swan is used allusively) and to Venus (occasionally, as by Shakespeare, wrongly ascribed to Juno).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [noun] > excellent person

gemc1275

blooma1300

excellence1447

mirrorc1450

man of mena1470

treasure?1545

paragon1548

shining light1563

Apollo's swan?1592

man of wax1597

rara avis1607

Titan1611

choice spirita1616

excellency1725

inestimable1728

inimitable1751

cock of the walk1781

surpasser1805

shiner1810

swell1816

trump1819

tip-topper1822

star1829

beauty1832

soarer1895

trumph1895

pansy1899

Renaissance man1906

exemplum virtutis1914

museum piece1920

superman1925

flyer1930

pistol1935

all-star1949

the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > [noun] > friend > person extremely loving or friendly with another

swan?1592

the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Cyginae (swans) > [noun] > member of genus Cygnus (miscellaneous) > cygnus olor (common swan)

swanc700

Apollo's swan?1592

mute swan1785

queen-bird1830

?1592 Trag. Solyman & Perseda iv. i. 70 But what two Christian Virgins haue we here?.. I should haue deemd them Iunoes goodly Swannes, Or Venus milke white Doues.

1593 G. Harvey New Let. in Wks. (1884) I. 277 The brauest man is..A Lion in the field, a Lamme in the towne: A Ioues Eagle in feude, an Apollos Swanne in society.

a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) i. iii. 74 Like Iunos Swans, Still we went coupled and inseperable.

2. figurative or allusively.

a. Applied to persons or things, in reference to the pure white plumage of the swan taken as a type of faultlessness or excellence; often in contrast to crow or goose.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [noun] > excellent person or thing

carbunclea1350

swanc1386

phoenixc1400

diamondc1440

broocha1464

surmounterc1500

sovereign?a1513

primrose peerless1523

superlative1577

transcendent1593

Arabian birda1616

crack1637

first rate1681

peach1710

phoenicle1711

admiration1717

spanker1751

first-raterc1760

no slouch of1767

nailer1806

tip-topper1822

ripper1825

ripstaver1828

apotheosis1832

clinker1836

clipper1836

bird1839

keener1839

ripsnorter1840

beater1845

firecracker1845

pumpkin1845

screamer1846

stunner1847

bottler1855

beaut1866

bobby-dazzler1866

one out of the box1867

stem-winder1875

corker1877

trimmer1878

hot stuff1884

daisy1886

jim-dandy1887

cracker1891

jim-hickey1895

peacherino1896

pippin1897

alpha plus1898

peacherine1900

pip1900

humdinger1905

bosker1906

hummer1907

good egg1914

superstar1914

the berries1918

bee's knee1923

the cat's whiskers1923

smash1923

smash hit1923

brahma1925

dilly1935

piss-cutter1935

killer1937

killer-diller1938

a hard act to follow1942

peacheroo1942

bitch1946

brammerc1950

hot shit1960

Tiffany1973

bollocks1981

c1386 G. Chaucer Summoner's Tale 222 Me thynketh they been lyk Iovinyan Fat as a whale, and walkynge as a swan.

c1386 G. Chaucer Manciple's T. 29 Whit was this Crowe, as a snow whit swan.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 17371 His clething als þe suan his suire.

1457 J. Hardyng Chron. in Eng. Hist. Rev. Oct. (1912) 745 Iustyse of pese thay bene, as I deme can, As now on days men call the blacke oxe swan.

c1503 Beuys of Southhamptowne (Pynson) 2308 The bysshop crystened Iosian, That was as whyte as any swan.

1589 ‘Pasquill of England’ Returne of Pasquill sig. C Euery Goose..must goe for a Swan, and whatsoeuer he speakes, must be Canonicall.

1589 Pappe w. Hatchet III. 404 A man..had a goose, which euerie daie laid him a golden egge; hee..kild his goose, thinking to haue a mine of golde in her bellie, and finding nothing but dung..wisht his goose aliue.

1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet i. ii. 89 Compare her face with some that I shall shew, And I will make thee thinke thy swan a crow.

1616 S. Hieron Doctrines Triall 87 Though multitudes of good points of doctrine..fall from vs, as water from a Swans back.

1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy Democritus to Rdr. 39 All their Geese are Swannes.

1679 M. Prance Addit. Narr. 15 Thus the Accused are all Swans, and the blackness of Guilt is thrown upon the Witnesses for the King.

1858 Eclectic Rev. 6th Ser. III. 426 Now it is East, one of the author's white swans..who is guilty of the act of malice we denounce.

1876 H. W. Longfellow Venice 1 White swan of cities, slumbering in thy nest.

1884 Sat. Rev. 5 July 25/1 The besetting temptation which leads local historians to turn geese into swans.

1912 F. Balfour Life & Lett. J. MacGregor xvi. 509 The assistants were to him all ‘swans’ as soon as they were connected with him or his church.

b. In allusions to the fabulous belief that the swan sings immediately or shortly before its death.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > death > [noun] > reminder or warning of

swanc1374

memento mori1598

c1374 G. Chaucer Anelida & Arcite 346 Þe swane..Ageynist his dethe shall synge his penavnse.

1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) xxiv. 511 What eileth now that vnhappy folke that make soo grete feest, I byleve that they ben as the swanne is whan he shall deye.

1601 W. Shakespeare Phoenix & Turtle in R. Chester Loves Martyr 170 Let the Priest in Surples white, That defunctiue Musicke can, Be the death-deuining Swan.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1623) v. ii. 254 I will play the Swan, And dye in Musicke.

1621 T. Middleton Sunne in Aries sig. B3^v Illustrated by proper Emblems..as..Harmony, by a Swan.

a1718 M. Prior 2nd Hymn Callimachus 8 And hov'ring Swans, their Throats releas'd From native Silence, Carol Sounds harmonious.

1842 Ld. Tennyson Morte d'Arthur in Poems (new ed.) II. 16 Like some full-breasted swan..fluting a wild carol ere her death.

c. Hence used for: A ‘singer’, bard, poet.Chiefly in specific designations derived from river-names, cf. the Swan of Avon, Avon's Swan = Shakespeare. Also, the Mantuan Swan = Virgil.Cf. Latin cycnus (Horace has Dircæus cycnus = Pindar), Greek κύκνος (Anthol. Pal. vii. 19, of Alcman).

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poet > [noun]

versifierc1340

poeta1382

metrera1387

sayer?a1400

makerc1460

metrician?a1475

metrist?1545

singer1560

swannetc1560

songster1584

muse1596

Castalianist1607

metre-maker1611

versificator1611

swan1613

versemaker1647

verseman1652

Parnassian1658

bard1667

factist1676

poetic1687

minstrel1718

shaper1816

1613 C. Brooke in C. Brooke & W. Browne Two Elegies i. x. sig. B2^v Yee Isis Swannes then let not Lethes Fowles Prophane his name; but may this Princes glory..Be sung of you in a Mineruall story.

1623 B. Jonson in W. Shakespeare Comedies, Hist. & Trag. sig. A4^v Sweet Swan of Auon! what a sight it were To see thee in our waters yet appeare, And make those flights vpon the bankes of Thames.

1691 A. Wood Athenæ Oxonienses (1692) II. 292 William D'Avenant..whom we..may justly stile the sweet Swan of Isis.

1743 A. Pope Dunciad (rev. ed.) iii. 20 Taylor,..(Once swan of Thames, tho' now he sings no more). [Cf. iii. 155 Each Cygnet sweet of Bath and Tunbridge race, Whose tuneful whistling makes the waters pass.]

1767 W. J. Mickle Concubine xvi Avons Swan of peerlesse Memorie.

1781 W. Cowper Table Talk 557 Ages elaps'd ere Homer's lamp appear'd, And ages ere the Mantuan swan was heard.

1895 G. B. Shaw in Sat. Rev. 28 Sept. 409/1 Every one concerned..is full of earnest belief that the splendour of the Swan will be revealed at last, like the Holy Grail.

1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. ix. [Scylla & Charybdis] 180 Shakespeare..does not stay to feed the pen chivying her game of cygnets towards the rushes. The swan of Avon has other thoughts.

d. [ < swan v.¹ 2] An apparently aimless journey; an excursion made for reconnaissance or for pleasure. slang (originally Military).

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > aspects of travel > travel from place to place > [noun] > without fixed aim or wandering > wandering idly > instance of

swan1946

1946 Visct. Montgomery El Alamein 45 A recurrence of what was then becoming known in the Eighth Army as the ‘annual swan’ between Egypt and El Agheila.

1958 Spectator 23 May 665/2 The General.., yielding to a very natural temptation to go for a ‘swan’ early in the battle, was away from his headquarters for over thirty-six hours.

1960 C. Achebe No Longer at Ease xvii. 153 But for an African like you, who has too many privileges as it is, to ask for two weeks to go on a swan, it makes me want to cry.

1968 Listener 22 Feb. 238/1 It [sc. a festival] has become an accepted ‘swan’ for the British correspondents.

1974 D. Hart-Davis Peter Fleming iv. 75 The trip as a whole was designed to be what he later called a ‘swan’—a general look round.

1979 D. Clark Heberden's Seat vii. 150 ‘Reed and I may have to go to London for the day.’.. ‘It's not just a swan is it?’

a. A figure of a swan, as in heraldry.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > heraldic representations of creatures > [noun] > heraldic birds

eaglec1380

swana1400

phoenix?a1425

pelicana1430

ravena1450

merlette1451

popinjayc1460

eagletc1494

merliona1500

martletc1519

merlion?a1549

spread eagle1550

meropie1572

spread eaglet1602

alerion1625

liver1668

shoveller1780

eagle in her majesty?1828

double eagle1861

hirondelle1880

pelican in her piety1885

a1400 Octouian 1481 Har armes wer gowles and swan, Trappure and scheld.

c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness l. 58 Wyth scheldez of wylde swyn, swanez & cronez.

1480 W. Worcester in J. Nasmith Itineraria (1778) 217 Venella apud signum le swan.

1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (1586) ii. 108 b Whereas that hath a flying swan,..this hath besides the shadow of the same swan.

1627 H. Peacham Compl. Gentleman (rev. ed.) xiii. 184 Three Roses Argent betweene as many Swans proper.

b. Astronomy. The northern constellation Cygnus.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the universe > constellation > Northern constellations > [noun] > Cygnus

swan1556

Northern Cross1912

1556 R. Record Castle of Knowl. 264 By it [sc. Lyra] is the Swanne, named Cygnus.

1606 N. Baxter Sir Philip Sydneys Ouránia sig. D4 The siluered Swan that dying sweetly sings, Adorn's with twelue starres her beautifull wings.

1671 Philos. Trans. 1670 (Royal Soc.) 5 2023 The New Star near the Beak of the Swan.

1868 W. Lockyer & J. N. Lockyer tr. A. Guillemin Heavens (ed. 3) 328.

†c. plumed swan n. Obsolete a colour in alchemy.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > alchemy > colours > [noun]

peacock's tail1612

plumed swan1612

1612 B. Jonson Alchemist ii. ii. sig. D2 Your seuerall colours..Of..the Crow, The Peacocks tayle, the plumed Swan .

Compounds

C1.

a. General attributive.

(a)

swan-bevy n.

swan comb n. figurative

ΚΠ

1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. 408 The swancomb of the gondola, highreared, forges on.

swan feast n.

ΚΠ

1850 D. J. Browne Amer. Poultry Yard 250 The ‘swan feasts’, which sometimes have occurred in England,..have been solemnised in the course of the month of September.

swan-feather n.

ΚΠ

c1560 Hunting Cheviot in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1889) III. vi. 309 The swane-fethars that his arrowe bar with his hart-blood the wear wete.

swan-flesh n.

ΚΠ

1557 R. Edgeworth Serm. very Fruitfull 91 They were forbidden..swanne flesh.

swan-flight n.

ΚΠ

1959 E. Pound Thrones xcviii. 38 The King's job, vast as the swan-flight.

swan-meat n.

ΚΠ

1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. viii. [Lestrygonians] 146 Wonder what kind is swanmeat.

swan-pie n.

ΚΠ

1640 J. D. Knave in Graine iii. i. sig. H1^v Wast not an excellent Swan~pie?

1679 R. Montagu in Buccleuch MSS (Hist. MSS Comm.) (1899) I. 331 My wife gives your Lordship her humble thanks for the swan pie.

swan-plumage n.

ΚΠ

1953 E. Sitwell Gardeners & Astronomers 37 And Cygnus who gave you all his bright swan-plumage.

(b)

swan-fashion adv.

ΚΠ

1850 D. J. Browne Amer. Poultry Yard 242 They would probably please most palates better, if cooked and served swan fashion.

b. Objective.

(a)

swan-feeder n. (attributive)

ΚΠ

1557 Earl of Surrey et al. Songes & Sonettes sig. O.iiii^v Swanfeeder Temms no furder course can passe.

swan-hunting n.

ΚΠ

1708 London Gaz. No. 4463/2 The King left Yagersburg on Wednesday last, in order to take the Diversion of Swan-Hunting.

1870 P. Gillmore tr. L. Figuier Reptiles & Birds 254 Swan-hunting takes place during the season of moulting.

swan-shooting n.

ΚΠ

1874 J. W. Long Amer. Wild-fowl Shooting iii. 71 An excellent decoy for swan-shooting..is an old white shirt drawn over a bunch of brush.

(b)

swan-delighting adj.

ΚΠ

1936 W. H. Auden Look, Stranger! 41 The swan-delighting river.

swan-eating adj.

ΚΠ

1641 J. Milton Of Reformation 22 His canary-sucking, and swan-eating palat.

c. Instrumental, etc.

swan-clad adj.

ΚΠ

a1657 G. Daniel Poems (1878) I. 27 Swift Arne, the Thuscan Soile, noe more shall beat, Nor Swan-clad Po run Sweet.

swan-drawn adj.

ΚΠ

1812 W. Tennant Anster Fair i. iii. 6 The swan-drawn car.

swan-instructed adj.

ΚΠ

1942 ‘S. Smith’ Mother, what is Man? 59 ‘Charley, Charley, Charley’ cry the swan-instructed curlews.

swan-poor adj.

ΚΠ

1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. iv. 127 While toward the Sea, our (then-Swan-poorer) Thames Bore downe my Barke vpon her ebbing streames.

swan-proud adj.

ΚΠ

a1618 J. Sylvester Sonn. vii. 9 Sweet Petrarch's Po, and swan-proud Sein.

d. Similative and parasynthetic.

swan-bosomed adj.

ΚΠ

1897 H. N. Howard Footsteps Proserpine 111 A wench..Swan-bosomed.

swan-breasted adj.

ΚΠ

1930 R. Campbell Adamastor 73 The great swan-breasted seraphs soar and sing.

swan-bright adj.

ΚΠ

1923 E. Sitwell Bucolic Comedies 35 The swan-bright fountains.

swan-feathered adj.

ΚΠ

1953 R. Graves Poems 17 Past either cheek Swan-feathered arrows whistle.

swan-fledged adj.

ΚΠ

1862 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 10 And shake From wings swan-fledged a wheel of watery light.

swan-plumed adj.

ΚΠ

1600 C. Tourneur Transformed Metamorph. sig. D7 Swan-plum'd Phœbe [= the moon] gards the star-faire night.

swan-soft adj.

ΚΠ

1925 E. Sitwell Troy Park 12 In the thick swan-soft fields.

swan-sweet adj.

ΚΠ

1596 R. Rous To C. F. in C. Fitzgeffry Sir Francis Drake sig. A2^v Then let thy swan-sweet verse sing to a Drake.

swan-tuned adj.

ΚΠ

1604 A. Scoloker Daiphantus sig. D2 Daiphantus hearing such a Swan-tun'd voyce, Was rauisht.

swan-winged adj.

ΚΠ

1798 W. Sotheby tr. C. M. Wieland Oberon xii. lxvi. 426 Thro' the air the swan-wing'd chariot flew.

C2. Special combinations. See also swanherd n., etc.

swan-animalcule n. an infusorian of either of the families Trachelocercidæ and Tracheliidæ, esp. Trachelocerca olor, having a long flexible and extensible anterior prolongation like a swan's neck.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > invertebrates > protozoa > class Infusoria > subclass Ciliata > [noun] > order Holotricha > member of family Tracheliidae

swan-animalcule1865

1865 T. R. Jones in Intellectual Observer Mar. 121 A Swan animalcule (Trachelocerca olor).

swan dive n. U.S. a swallow dive (see swallow n.¹ Compounds 2).

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > [noun] > diving into water > specific manner

belly flop1895

belly flopper1895

swallow dive1898

swallow-diving1898

swan dive1898

swallow1902

cannonball1905

jackknife1906

honeypot1941

belly-flopping1948

1898 Swimming Mag. Oct. 45/2 The diving..included forward headers,..somersaults and the ‘Swan’ dive from twenty, thirty, and forty feet.

1932 E. Hemingway Death in Afternoon i. 21 As though a diver could control..[the] speed..of a swan dive.

1972 B. F. Conners Don't embarrass Bureau (1973) i. 7 Mrs. Green..executed her swan dive, flopping onto the water with the poise of a stricken bird.

swan-dive v. (intransitive).

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > move downwards [verb (intransitive)] > dive into water > specific manner

swan-dive1912

cannonball1951

swallow-dive1971

1912 J. London Son of Sun ii. 53 I used to swan-dive a hundred and ten feet in the clear.

swan-down n. (see swan's-down n.).

swan-drop n. (a) the knob on a swan's bill; in quot. 1821 transferred; (b) = swan-shot n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > hunting > shooting > shooting equipment > [noun] > shot-gun or fowling-piece > shot

swan-shot1639

goose-shota1658

buck-shot1776

mustard seed1809

swan-drop1821

snipe-shot1822

buck1845

swan-post1846

loopers1886

the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Cyginae (swans) > [noun] > member of genus Cygnus (miscellaneous) > cygnus olor (common swan) > parts of

swan-drop1821

society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [noun] > bullet or shot collectively > shot > large

swan-shot1639

swan-drop1821

1821 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 9 62 Hazlitt I own is not pale, because of his rubicund swan-drops.

1853 J. Palliser Solitary Rambles ii. 55 My own saddle-bags contained..powder and shot, and, by great good luck, some swan-drops.

1865 Pall Mall Gaz. 13 Sept. 9/2 Firearms..loaded with heavy swan drops.

swan-flower n. = swan-plant n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > orchids

satyrionOE

bollockwort?a1300

sanicle14..

bollock?a1425

martagon1548

orchis1559

dogstones1562

hare's-ballocks1562

stone1562

bollock grass1578

dog's cods1578

dog's cullions1578

double-leaf1578

fly-orchis1578

goat's cullions1578

goat's orchis1578

priest's pintle1578

twayblade1578

bee-orchis1597

bifoil1597

bird's nest1597

bird's orchis1597

butterfly orchis1597

fenny-stones1597

gelded satyrion1597

gnat satyrion1597

humble-bee orchis1597

lady's slipper1597

sweet ballocks1597

two-blade1605

cullions1611

bee-flower1626

fly-flower1640

man orchis1670

musk orchis1670

moccasin flower1680

gnat-flower1688

faham tea1728

Ophrys1754

green man orchis1762

Arethusa1764

honey flower1771

cypripedium1775

rattlesnake plantain1778

Venus's slipper1785

Adam and Eve1789

lizard orchis179.

epidendrum1791

Pogonia?1801

Vanda1801

cymbidium1815

Oncidium1822

putty-root1822

Noah's Ark1826

yellow moccasin1826

gongora1827

cattleya1828

green man1828

nervine1828

stanhopea1829

dove-flower1831

catasetum1836

Odontoglossum1836

Miltonia1837

letter plant1838

spread eagle1838

letter-leaf1839

swan-plant1841

orchid1843

disa1844

masdevallia1845

Phalaenopsis1846

faham1850

Indian crocus1850

moccasin plant1850

pleione1851

dove orchis1852

nerve root1854

Holy Ghost flower1862

basket-plant1865

lizard's tongue1866

mousetail1866

Sobralia1866

swan-neck1866

swanwort1866

Indian shoe1876

odontoglot1879

wreathewort1879

moth orchid1880

rattlesnake orchid1881

dendrobe1882

dove-plant1882

Madeira orchis1882

man orchis1882

swan-flower1884

slipper-orchid1885

slipper orchis1889

mayflower1894

scorpion orchid1897

moederkappie1910

dove orchid1918

monkey orchid1925

man orchid1927

1884 W. Miller Dict. Eng. Names Plants Swan-flower, of Surinam, Cycnoches Loddigesii.

swan-goose n. a large long-necked species of goose from Eastern Asia, Cygnopsis cygnoides, also called Chinese or Guinea goose.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > [noun] > member of subfamily Anserinea (goose) > genus Anser > anser cygnoides (swan-goose)

China-goose1602

swan-goose1678

Guinea goose1879

1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. 360 The Swan-Goose: Anser cygnoides Hispanicus seu Guineensis... It is a stately Bird, walking with the Head and Neck decently erected.

1804 T. Bewick Hist. Brit. Birds II. 281 (heading) Swan Goose. Chinese, Spanish, Guinea, or Cape Goose.

swan-mussel n. a common species of freshwater mussel, Anodonta cygnea.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Pelecypoda or Conchifera > [noun] > section Asiphonida > family Unionidae > genus Anodont > member of

swan-mussel1777

1777 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. (ed. 4, quarto) IV. vi. 113 Mytilus.. Cygneus..Swan. M[ussel] with a thin brittle shell, very broad and convex, marked with concentric striæ.

1864 Intellectual Observer Sept. 67 The swan-mussel (Anodonta)..is one of the largest of our bivalve molluscs.

† swan-pen n. [compare Middle Dutch swan(en)penne swan's quill, swanenpipe swan's quill, especially one used as a drainpipe] Obsolete = swan-quill n.; also, a pipe of the width of a swan-quill (cf. pen n.² 3a) for draining.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > writing > writing materials > writing instrument > [noun] > pen > quill pen

featherc1000

swan-pen1426

goose-quill1552

quill1552

goose-pena1616

pen1653

quill pen1725

crow-quill1740

twill1825

swan-quill1839

society > occupation and work > equipment > conveyor > [noun] > conduit, channel, or tube > pipe > other types of pipe

swan-pen1426

service pipe1718

standpipe1728

service1786

jet pipe1795

safety tube1803

gas pipe1807

outlet pipe1837

pipette1839

downpipe1846

nipple1863

downcomer1868

downcome1872

wyea1877

benda1884

Y brancha1884

gas line1887

sparge pipe1910

riser1962

marine riser1972

1426 Cov. Leet Bk. 108 Þat ther be no pype [to a conduit] more then a swan penne.

a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Lion & Mouse l. 1357 in Poems (1981) 55 Ane roll off paper in his hand he bair, Ane swannis pen [1621 Hart Swane-pen] stikkand vnder his eir.

swan-plant n. (a) an orchid of the South American genus Cycnoches, having flowers with a long curved column like a swan's neck; (b) a W. Indian species of birthwort, Aristolochia grandiflora, also called Pelican-flower.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > birthwort > [noun]

Aristolochiaa1398

astrologiaa1425

round aristolochia?a1425

Saracen's mint1526

sarazine1526

heartwort1548

round heartwort1548

birthwort1551

round birthwort1551

Saracen's herb1585

Saracen's birth-wort1597

clematite1712

swan-plant1841

serpent-withe1864

the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > orchids

satyrionOE

bollockwort?a1300

sanicle14..

bollock?a1425

martagon1548

orchis1559

dogstones1562

hare's-ballocks1562

stone1562

bollock grass1578

dog's cods1578

dog's cullions1578

double-leaf1578

fly-orchis1578

goat's cullions1578

goat's orchis1578

priest's pintle1578

twayblade1578

bee-orchis1597

bifoil1597

bird's nest1597

bird's orchis1597

butterfly orchis1597

fenny-stones1597

gelded satyrion1597

gnat satyrion1597

humble-bee orchis1597

lady's slipper1597

sweet ballocks1597

two-blade1605

cullions1611

bee-flower1626

fly-flower1640

man orchis1670

musk orchis1670

moccasin flower1680

gnat-flower1688

faham tea1728

Ophrys1754

green man orchis1762

Arethusa1764

honey flower1771

cypripedium1775

rattlesnake plantain1778

Venus's slipper1785

Adam and Eve1789

lizard orchis179.

epidendrum1791

Pogonia?1801

Vanda1801

cymbidium1815

Oncidium1822

putty-root1822

Noah's Ark1826

yellow moccasin1826

gongora1827

cattleya1828

green man1828

nervine1828

stanhopea1829

dove-flower1831

catasetum1836

Odontoglossum1836

Miltonia1837

letter plant1838

spread eagle1838

letter-leaf1839

swan-plant1841

orchid1843

disa1844

masdevallia1845

Phalaenopsis1846

faham1850

Indian crocus1850

moccasin plant1850

pleione1851

dove orchis1852

nerve root1854

Holy Ghost flower1862

basket-plant1865

lizard's tongue1866

mousetail1866

Sobralia1866

swan-neck1866

swanwort1866

Indian shoe1876

odontoglot1879

wreathewort1879

moth orchid1880

rattlesnake orchid1881

dendrobe1882

dove-plant1882

Madeira orchis1882

man orchis1882

swan-flower1884

slipper-orchid1885

slipper orchis1889

mayflower1894

scorpion orchid1897

moederkappie1910

dove orchid1918

monkey orchid1925

man orchid1927

1841 Florist's Jrnl. (1846) 2 135 Cycnoches Loddigesii. This is the swan plant.

1848 R. H. Schomburgk Hist. Barbados 621 Aristolochia grandiflora.. Jamaica, Trinidad. The Swan Plant.

swan-post n. [ < French poste; compare Cotgrave, ‘Postes, big haile-shot for Herons, Geese, and other such great fowle’] = swan-shot n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > hunting > shooting > shooting equipment > [noun] > shot-gun or fowling-piece > shot

swan-shot1639

goose-shota1658

buck-shot1776

mustard seed1809

swan-drop1821

snipe-shot1822

buck1845

swan-post1846

loopers1886

1846 C. St. John Wild Sports Highlands 252 With the double-barrel loaded with swan-post.

swanproof adj. not susceptible to the influence of Shakespeare (cf. sense 2c).Apparently an isolated use.

ΚΠ

1905 G. B. Shaw in Shaw on Theatre (1958) 103 Since Shakespear's words are still the basis of the dialogue, there are moments when the bard enjoys his own again; for all the players are not as completely swanproof as Mr Tree.

swan-quill n. a swan's feather, or a pen made of one.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > writing > writing materials > writing instrument > [noun] > pen > quill pen

featherc1000

swan-pen1426

goose-quill1552

quill1552

goose-pena1616

pen1653

quill pen1725

crow-quill1740

twill1825

swan-quill1839

1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 454 Crow quills for draughtsmen, as well as swan quills, are prepared in the same way.

1900 S. J. Weyman Sophia xxv She unearthed a pewter ink-pot and an old swan-quill.

swan's bath n. pseudo-archaic the water, the sea.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > water > sea or ocean > [noun]

sea-floodc893

brimc937

streamc950

foamOE

mereOE

seaOE

sea of (the) oceanc1300

brookc1400

float1477

strand1513

breec1540

burnc1540

broth1558

Thetisie1600

fishpond1604

brine1605

pond1612

Thetisc1620

brack1627

herring-pond1686

tide1791

black water1816

lave1825

briny1831

salt water1839

blue1861

swan's bath1865

puddle1869

ditch1922

oggin1945

1865 C. Kingsley Hereward iv, in Good Words Jan. 96/2 Take to the sea like your ancestor, and come over the swan's bath with me!

† swan's beak n. Obsolete

ΚΠ

1631 H. Crooke Expl. Instr. Chirurg. 43 Another Instrument called the Swans beake, the sides whereof are opened by a screw when it is insinuated into the wound.

† swan's bill n. Obsolete a kind of surgical forceps (cf. crane's-bill n. 2).

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > healing > medical appliances or equipment > surgical instruments > [noun] > forceps

tenaclesc1400

tongsc1425

raven's bill1446

parrotbill1598

duck's bill1601

swan's bill1631

forceps1634

beaks1656

volsella1684

tenaculum1693

rostrum1722

crane's-bill1753

porte-aiguille1830

volsellum1851

vulsellum1863

iris-forceps1874

speculum forceps1875

bulldog forceps1880

1631 H. Crooke Expl. Instr. Chirurg. 41 Those instruments framed to draw out bullets..out of wounds..are almost all called by one generall name, Bills or Beakes, as the Crowes Bill, the Cranes Bill, the Drakes Bill, the Parrots Bill, and the Swans Bill.

swan's egg n. (also swan-egg) name of a variety of pear.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > pear > other types of

calewey1377

honey peara1400

pome-pear1440

pome-wardena1513

choke-pear1530

muscadel1555

worry pear1562

lording1573

bon-chrétienc1575

Burgundian pear1578

king pear1585

pound pear1585

poppering1597

wood of Jerusalem1597

muscadine1598

amiot1600

bergamot1600

butter pear1600

dew-pear1600

greening1600

mollart1600

roset1600

wax pear1600

bottle pear1601

gourd-pear1601

Venerian pear1601

musk pear1611

rose pear1611

pusill1615

Christian1629

nutmeg1629

rolling pear1629

surreine1629

sweater1629

amber pear1638

Venus-pear1648

horse-pear1657

Martin1658

russet1658

rousselet1660

diego1664

frith-pear1664

maudlin1664

Messire Jean1664

primate1664

sovereign1664

spindle-pear1664

stopple-pear1664

sugar-pear1664

virgin1664

Windsor pear1664

violet-pear1666

nonsuch1674

muscat1675

burnt-cat1676

squash pear1676

rose1678

Longueville1681

maiden-heart1685

ambrette1686

vermilion1691

admiral1693

sanguinole1693

satin1693

St. Germain pear1693

pounder pear1697

vine-pear1704

amadot1706

marchioness1706

marquise1706

Margaret1707

short-neck1707

musk1708

burree1719

marquis1728

union pear1728

Doyenne pear1731

Magdalene1731

beurré1736

colmar1736

Monsieur Jean1736

muscadella1736

swan's egg1736

chaumontel1755

St Michael's pear1796

Williams1807

Marie Louise1817

seckel1817

Bartlett1828

vergaloo1828

Passe Colmar1837

glou-morceau1859

London sugar1860

snow-pear1860

Comice1866

Kieffer pear1880

sand pear1880

sandy pear1884

snowy pear1884

1736 Compl. Family-piece ii. iii. 328 These Pears [Oct.]. Green Sugar, Besidery, Swan's Egg,..and others.

1769 J. Abercrombie Every Man his Own Gardener (ed. 3) 478/1 Pears. Swan egg, Chaumontelle.

1843 J. Smith Forest Trees 163 Swan's egg is a small beautifully shaped pear.

1858 ‘G. Eliot’ Scenes Clerical Life 232 Swan-egg pears.

swan's feather n. collectors' name for a species of moth, Porrectaria cygnipennella, with pure white wings (Rennie, 1832).

swan-shot n. a large size of shot, used for shooting swans; also used in angling as a weight.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > hunting > shooting > shooting equipment > [noun] > shot-gun or fowling-piece > shot

swan-shot1639

goose-shota1658

buck-shot1776

mustard seed1809

swan-drop1821

snipe-shot1822

buck1845

swan-post1846

loopers1886

society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [noun] > bullet or shot collectively > shot > large

swan-shot1639

swan-drop1821

the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > weight > [noun]

plumbc1450

plummet1577

leada1609

sinker1785

swan-shot1856

sinkstone1857

net sinker1865

net-weight1865

sink1865

bullet1867

block-shot1883

shotting1979

1639 New Haven Colonial Rec. 26 4 pound of pistol shott or swan shott at least.

1675 Essex Inst. Hist. Coll. VIII. 40 One pistole..Loaded with Gunpowder and three swann Shot.

1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 273 Large Swan-Shot; as big as small Pistol Bullets.

1761 S. Niles Indian Wars ii. 343 The corporal of the troops..had five swan-shot in his body.

1821 W. Scott Pirate I. viii. 196 She will put a hundred swan-shot through a Dutchman's cap at eighty paces.

1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Man. Brit. Rural Sports 255/2 Swan-shot or lead, in some form, is required to sink the bait.

1882 M. E. Braddon Mt. Royal III. iv. 57 He is found with an empty bag, and a charge of swan-shot through his heart.

1971 Angling Times 10 June 6/2 Any float will do that a swan shot can't quite take under.

† swan's tongue n. Obsolete an old name for hemp-nettle ( Galeopsis tetrahit).

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > labiate plant or plants > [noun] > dead-nettle or hemp-nettle

blind-nettleeOE

nettleeOE

dead-nettle1398

red archangela1425

red dead-nettlea1425

archangel1440

deaf-nettlec1440

swan's tonguec1450

dea-nettle?1530

henbit1597

nettle-hemp1597

day-nettle1635

base horehound1736

Ballota1778

weasel-snout1796

hemp-nettle1801

glidewort1866

Lamium1974

c1450 Alphita (Anecd. Oxon.) 80/2 Herba hircina, i. tetrahit..anglice swanestonge.

Swan Vesta n. the proprietary name of a make of match; cf. Vesta n. 4.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > material for igniting > [noun] > match, spill, or taper for lighting > specifically ignited by friction

allumette1601

fire cane1644

paper match1780

Strasbourg match1825

match1830

lucifer match1831

fusee1832

loco-foco1835

oxymuriatic match1835

Congreve1839

Vesta1839

friction-match1847

safety match1850

German Congreve1851

Vesuvian1853

star1862

safety1876

tandstickor1884

post-and-railsa1890

book match1899

Swan Vesta1908

1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 24/2 Swan White Pine Vestas. (Bryant & May's.)..Doz..0/3½.]

1908 Trade Marks Jrnl. 12 Aug. 1340 Swan Vestas... Matches. Bryant & May, Limited, Fairfield Works, Bow, London..; match manufacturers.

1958 J. Townsend Young Devils vii. 59 I collected..a number of loose Swan Vestas from the class.

1977 ‘E. Crispin’ Glimpses of Moon vii. 109 Ling gave his Swan Vesta box an experimental shake.

C3. with reference to the keeping of swans and swan-upping, as swan-book, swan-hook, swan-house, swan-keeper, swan laws, swan-master, swan-pit, swan-rights, swan-warden, swan-yard.

ΚΠ

1524 in Archaeologia (1812) 16 156 That there shall no Swannerd keep, or carry any swan book, but the King's Swannerd.

c1560 in Proc. Archæol. Inst., Lincoln (1850) 305 It is lawful for every owner, swanmaister, or swanheard, to pull up, or cut downe ye birdnet.

c1560 in Proc. Archæol. Inst., Lincoln (1850) 306 If any person..be found carrijng any swanhooke, and the same person being no swanheard [etc.].

c1560 in Proc. Archæol. Inst., Lincoln (1850) 306 They shall pay a land bird to the king, and be obedient to all swan lawes.

1600–1 in R. Willis & J. W. Clark Archit. Hist. Univ. Cambr. (1886) III. 594 Pro mending the Swanhouse walles iiij^d.

1793 in Blackwood's Mag. Dec. (1888) 862/1 [A minute in the books of the Hospital Trust [of St. Helen's, Norwich] says that a new] swan-yard [was constructed in 1793].

1812 R. Surtees in J. Raine Mem. J. Hodgson (1857) I. 85 Swan-oats are regularly paid by the adjacent properties to the lessee of the old swan-house on the borders of the morass.

1843 W. Yarrell Hist. Brit. Birds III. 129 The principal governing officers of the [Vintners'] company for the time being are, a Master and three Wardens, the junior Warden of the year being called the Swan Warden.

1848 Bromehead in Proc. Archæol. Inst., Lincoln (1850) 301 (note) The swanhook, attached to a long pole, by means of which the bird might readily be captured by the neck, is frequently introduced as a symbol amongst the varied devices composing the swanmarks in the MS.

1883 G. C. Davies Norfolk Broads xxix. 202 The swan-pit, at the back of the Old Man's Hospital, St. Helen's, Norwich. This pit is an oblong pool or tank,..with perpendicular sides... Here they [sc. cygnets] are fattened for the table, or reared for transmission to their future homes.

1888 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Dec. 861/2 There are several swan-pits belonging to the various owners of swan-rights on the Norwich rivers.

1888 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Dec. 862/1 From 80 to 100 cygnets may be seen..undergoing the process of fattening in the swan-pit.

1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 2 Aug. 2/1 Fourteen years ago the R.S.P.C.A. prosecuted the swan-masters.

C4. with reference to the stories in Aryan mythology of supernatural maidens having the power of transforming themselves into swans by means of a robe of swan's feathers or of a magic ring or chain, as swan-bride, swan-hero, swan-maid, swan-maiden (after German schwanenjungfrau), swan-wife, swan-woman; swan-coat, swan-ring, swan-shift (after German schwanenhemd, -ring); also applied to a personage in medieval story, like Lohengrin, accompanied by a swan, as swan-knight (= knight of the swan, German schwanenritter, French chevalier au cygne).

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [noun] > fabulous or mythical human > swan-maiden

swan-bride1859

swan-maid1859

swan-maiden1859

swan-wife1859

swan-woman1859

the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [noun] > fabulous or mythical human > swan-maiden > husband of

swan-hero1859

the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [noun] > fabulous or mythical human > swan-maiden > robe or ring of

swan-coat1859

swan-ring1859

swan-shift1859

1859 G. W. Dasent tr. P.C. Asbjørnsen & J. Moe Pop. Tales from Norse p. lxi Brynhildr and the Valkyries..became swan-maidens.

1862 H. Marryat One Year in Sweden II. lxiv. 389 (note) The smith..fancied his swan-bride had returned.

1865 E. B. Tylor Res. Early Hist. Mankind xii. 346 (note) Three women sit on the shore with their swan-coats beside them, ready to turn into swans and fly away.

1868 S. Baring-Gould Curious Myths Middle Ages 2nd Ser. ix. 298 These swan-maidens are the houris of the Vedic heaven; receiving to their arms the souls of the heroes.

1868 S. Baring-Gould Curious Myths Middle Ages 2nd Ser. ix. 302 At one time there is but a single swan-woman, at another the sky is dark with their numerous wings.

1880 J. S. Stallybrass tr. J. Grimm Teutonic Mythol. I. xvi. 427 The swan-hero forsakes his wife the moment she asks the forbidden question.

1880 J. S. Stallybrass tr. J. Grimm Teutonic Mythol. I. xvi. 427 Many tales of swan-wives still live among the Norse people.

1880 J. S. Stallybrass tr. J. Grimm Teutonic Mythol. I. xvi. 428 When they [sc. swan-maidens] bathe in the cooling flood, they lay down on the bank the swan-ring, the swan-shift.

1889 R. B. Anderson tr. V. Rydberg Teutonic Mythol. 60 Among these swan-maids was Sif.

1911 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 133/1 A conclusion, in which the Swan-Knight, Lohengrin, is made Parzival's son.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1918; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	swan
释义	swann. Brit. /swɒn/, U.S. /swɑn/ Forms: Old English– swan; also Old English swann, swon, suon, Old English, Middle English suan, Middle English swane, Middle English–1600s swanne, 1500s swonne. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Common Germanic (not recorded for Gothic): Old English swan, swǫn, strong masculine = Old Frisian swon (East Frisian swon, North Frisian, West Frisian swaan), Old Saxon suan, Middle Low German swan, swâne, strong and weak masculine, swôn, strong masculine, (Low German swaan), Middle Dutch swâne* (Dutch zwaan), Old High German swan, swon, strong masculine, swana, weak feminine (Middle High German swane, swan, weak masculine, German schwan, strong masculine, dialect schwane, schwone* < ), Old Norse svanr (poetic) strong masculine (Norwegian svon (masculine), svana (feminine), Danish svane, masculine, feminine, Middle Swedish, Swedish svan, masculine) < Germanic swanaz strong masculine, swanon- weak masculine, or swanôn- weak feminine The name was apparently applied originally to the ‘musical’ swan, having the form of an agent-noun < Germanic swan-* < Idg. swon-: swen-, represented by Sanskrit svánati (it) sounds, Latin sonit (it) sounds, (sonĕre, later sonāre), Irish sennaim I make music, Old English geswin melody, song, swinsian to make melody. 1. a. A large web-footed swimming bird of the genus Cygnus or subfamily Cygninæ of the family Anatidæ, characterized by a long and gracefully curved neck and a majestic motion when swimming; esp. C. olor, C. gibbus, or C. mansuetus, with pure white plumage in the adult, black legs and feet, and a red bill surmounted by a black knob, named specifically the Domestic, Mute, or Tame Swan.Other important species are Bewick's swan n. Cygnus (Olor) bewicki. trumpeter swan n. Cygnus (Olor) buccinator, of North America (see trumpeter n. Compounds). whistling swan n. (a) of Europe, C. (O.) musicus or ferus, also called Wild Swan, †Elk, or Whooper; (b) of North America, C. (O.) americanus or columbianus.Swans' quills were used for feathering arrows; hence †arrows of swan.black-necked swan: see the first element. See also black swan n. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Cyginae (swans) > [noun] > member of genus Cygnus (miscellaneous) > cygnus olor (common swan) swanc700 Apollo's swan?1592 mute swan1785 queen-bird1830 the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Cyginae (swans) > [noun] > member of genus Cygnus (miscellaneous) > cygnus cygnus (whooper) elk1552 whooper1553 whistling swan1785 whooping swan1802 trumpeter swan1842 trumpeter1891 the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Cyginae (swans) > [noun] > member of genus Cygnus (miscellaneous) black-necked swan1785 Bewick's swan1830 c700 Epinal Gloss. (O.E.T.) 700 Olor, suan. OE Phoenix 137 Ne magon þam breahtme byman ne hornas, ne hearpan hlyn, ne hæleþa stefn ænges on eorþan, ne organan, swegleoþres geswin, ne swanes feðre, ne ænig þara dreama þe dryhten gescap gumum to gliwe in þas geomran woruld. c1050 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 459/22 Olor, swon, ilfetu, swan. c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 1726 Biforn hem com þe beste mete Þat king or cayser wolde ete; Kranes, swannes, ueneysun. c1340 Nominale (Skeat) 838 Cyne recifle, swan tissith. c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 206 A fat swan loued he best of any roost. a1425 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (Pierpont Morgan) xii. xi[i] Schipmen troweþ, þat it bodeþ good, yf þey meteþ swannes in peryl of schipbreche. a1450 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (Bodl.) Þe swanne putteþ doune his heed into þe water and secheþ his mete. 1451 Lincoln Diocese Documents 57 I wil my nevew Robert constabull haf Al my qwhite Swannes. 1459 Paston Lett. I. 482 viij. schefe arrowys of swanne. 1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Swanne, cygnus..some take this to be the elke, or wilde swanne. 1552–3 in A. Feuillerat Documents Office of Revels Edward VI (1914) 138 Pennes of swannes quylles. ?1564 Proclam. Elizabeth I Conserv. Quenes Swannes (single sheet) It is ordeyned, that no man shal take no gray swannes nor white swannes flying. 1593 in A. J. Kempe Losely MSS (1836) 308 All straie swans, all swans unmarked, all wild swans, all tame swans that fly, all swans of felons..are the master of the swans right. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vii. 438 The Swan with Arched neck Between her white wings mantling proudly, Rowes Her state with Oarie feet. View more context for this quotation 1674 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words 95 The Elk, Hooper, or wild Swan: Cygnus ferus, this bird is specifically distinct from the tame Swan. 1718 M. Prior Alma i, in Poems Several Occasions (new ed.) 333 If You Dine with my Lord May'r, Roast-Beef, and Ven'son is your Fare; Thence You proceed to Swan, and Bustard. 1785 T. Pennant Arctic Zool. II. ii. 542 The Whistling Swan carries its neck quite erect. 1785 T. Pennant Arctic Zool. II. ii. 542 The Mute Swan, or that which we call Tame, is found in a wild state in some parts of Russia. 1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iv. x. 140 So shoots through the morning sky the lark, Or the swan through the summer sea. 1830 Yarrell in Trans. Linn. Soc. 16 453 Side view of the sternum and trachea of Bewick's Swan. 1860 Ld. Tennyson Tithonus in Cornhill Mag. Feb. 176 And after many a summer dies the swan. b. In classical mythology, the swan was sacred to Apollo (hence Apollo's swan is used allusively) and to Venus (occasionally, as by Shakespeare, wrongly ascribed to Juno). ΘΚΠ the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [noun] > excellent person gemc1275 blooma1300 excellence1447 mirrorc1450 man of mena1470 treasure?1545 paragon1548 shining light1563 Apollo's swan?1592 man of wax1597 rara avis1607 Titan1611 choice spirita1616 excellency1725 inestimable1728 inimitable1751 cock of the walk1781 surpasser1805 shiner1810 swell1816 trump1819 tip-topper1822 star1829 beauty1832 soarer1895 trumph1895 pansy1899 Renaissance man1906 exemplum virtutis1914 museum piece1920 superman1925 flyer1930 pistol1935 all-star1949 the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > [noun] > friend > person extremely loving or friendly with another swan?1592 the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Cyginae (swans) > [noun] > member of genus Cygnus (miscellaneous) > cygnus olor (common swan) swanc700 Apollo's swan?1592 mute swan1785 queen-bird1830 ?1592 Trag. Solyman & Perseda iv. i. 70 But what two Christian Virgins haue we here?.. I should haue deemd them Iunoes goodly Swannes, Or Venus milke white Doues. 1593 G. Harvey New Let. in Wks. (1884) I. 277 The brauest man is..A Lion in the field, a Lamme in the towne: A Ioues Eagle in feude, an Apollos Swanne in society. a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) i. iii. 74 Like Iunos Swans, Still we went coupled and inseperable. View more context for this quotation 2. figurative or allusively. a. Applied to persons or things, in reference to the pure white plumage of the swan taken as a type of faultlessness or excellence; often in contrast to crow or goose. ΘΚΠ the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [noun] > excellent person or thing carbunclea1350 swanc1386 phoenixc1400 diamondc1440 broocha1464 surmounterc1500 sovereign?a1513 primrose peerless1523 superlative1577 transcendent1593 Arabian birda1616 crack1637 first rate1681 peach1710 phoenicle1711 admiration1717 spanker1751 first-raterc1760 no slouch of1767 nailer1806 tip-topper1822 ripper1825 ripstaver1828 apotheosis1832 clinker1836 clipper1836 bird1839 keener1839 ripsnorter1840 beater1845 firecracker1845 pumpkin1845 screamer1846 stunner1847 bottler1855 beaut1866 bobby-dazzler1866 one out of the box1867 stem-winder1875 corker1877 trimmer1878 hot stuff1884 daisy1886 jim-dandy1887 cracker1891 jim-hickey1895 peacherino1896 pippin1897 alpha plus1898 peacherine1900 pip1900 humdinger1905 bosker1906 hummer1907 good egg1914 superstar1914 the berries1918 bee's knee1923 the cat's whiskers1923 smash1923 smash hit1923 brahma1925 dilly1935 piss-cutter1935 killer1937 killer-diller1938 a hard act to follow1942 peacheroo1942 bitch1946 brammerc1950 hot shit1960 Tiffany1973 bollocks1981 c1386 G. Chaucer Summoner's Tale 222 Me thynketh they been lyk Iovinyan Fat as a whale, and walkynge as a swan. c1386 G. Chaucer Manciple's T. 29 Whit was this Crowe, as a snow whit swan. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 17371 His clething als þe suan his suire. 1457 J. Hardyng Chron. in Eng. Hist. Rev. Oct. (1912) 745 Iustyse of pese thay bene, as I deme can, As now on days men call the blacke oxe swan. c1503 Beuys of Southhamptowne (Pynson) 2308 The bysshop crystened Iosian, That was as whyte as any swan. 1589 ‘Pasquill of England’ Returne of Pasquill sig. C Euery Goose..must goe for a Swan, and whatsoeuer he speakes, must be Canonicall. 1589 Pappe w. Hatchet III. 404 A man..had a goose, which euerie daie laid him a golden egge; hee..kild his goose, thinking to haue a mine of golde in her bellie, and finding nothing but dung..wisht his goose aliue. 1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet i. ii. 89 Compare her face with some that I shall shew, And I will make thee thinke thy swan a crow. View more context for this quotation 1616 S. Hieron Doctrines Triall 87 Though multitudes of good points of doctrine..fall from vs, as water from a Swans back. 1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy Democritus to Rdr. 39 All their Geese are Swannes. 1679 M. Prance Addit. Narr. 15 Thus the Accused are all Swans, and the blackness of Guilt is thrown upon the Witnesses for the King. 1858 Eclectic Rev. 6th Ser. III. 426 Now it is East, one of the author's white swans..who is guilty of the act of malice we denounce. 1876 H. W. Longfellow Venice 1 White swan of cities, slumbering in thy nest. 1884 Sat. Rev. 5 July 25/1 The besetting temptation which leads local historians to turn geese into swans. 1912 F. Balfour Life & Lett. J. MacGregor xvi. 509 The assistants were to him all ‘swans’ as soon as they were connected with him or his church. b. In allusions to the fabulous belief that the swan sings immediately or shortly before its death. ΘΚΠ the world > life > death > [noun] > reminder or warning of swanc1374 memento mori1598 c1374 G. Chaucer Anelida & Arcite 346 Þe swane..Ageynist his dethe shall synge his penavnse. 1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) xxiv. 511 What eileth now that vnhappy folke that make soo grete feest, I byleve that they ben as the swanne is whan he shall deye. 1601 W. Shakespeare Phoenix & Turtle in R. Chester Loves Martyr 170 Let the Priest in Surples white, That defunctiue Musicke can, Be the death-deuining Swan. a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1623) v. ii. 254 I will play the Swan, And dye in Musicke. 1621 T. Middleton Sunne in Aries sig. B3^v Illustrated by proper Emblems..as..Harmony, by a Swan. a1718 M. Prior 2nd Hymn Callimachus 8 And hov'ring Swans, their Throats releas'd From native Silence, Carol Sounds harmonious. 1842 Ld. Tennyson Morte d'Arthur in Poems (new ed.) II. 16 Like some full-breasted swan..fluting a wild carol ere her death. c. Hence used for: A ‘singer’, bard, poet.Chiefly in specific designations derived from river-names, cf. the Swan of Avon, Avon's Swan = Shakespeare. Also, the Mantuan Swan = Virgil.Cf. Latin cycnus (Horace has Dircæus cycnus = Pindar), Greek κύκνος (Anthol. Pal. vii. 19, of Alcman). ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poet > [noun] versifierc1340 poeta1382 metrera1387 sayer?a1400 makerc1460 metrician?a1475 metrist?1545 singer1560 swannetc1560 songster1584 muse1596 Castalianist1607 metre-maker1611 versificator1611 swan1613 versemaker1647 verseman1652 Parnassian1658 bard1667 factist1676 poetic1687 minstrel1718 shaper1816 1613 C. Brooke in C. Brooke & W. Browne Two Elegies i. x. sig. B2^v Yee Isis Swannes then let not Lethes Fowles Prophane his name; but may this Princes glory..Be sung of you in a Mineruall story. 1623 B. Jonson in W. Shakespeare Comedies, Hist. & Trag. sig. A4^v Sweet Swan of Auon! what a sight it were To see thee in our waters yet appeare, And make those flights vpon the bankes of Thames. 1691 A. Wood Athenæ Oxonienses (1692) II. 292 William D'Avenant..whom we..may justly stile the sweet Swan of Isis. 1743 A. Pope Dunciad (rev. ed.) iii. 20 Taylor,..(Once swan of Thames, tho' now he sings no more). [Cf. iii. 155 Each Cygnet sweet of Bath and Tunbridge race, Whose tuneful whistling makes the waters pass.] 1767 W. J. Mickle Concubine xvi Avons Swan of peerlesse Memorie. 1781 W. Cowper Table Talk 557 Ages elaps'd ere Homer's lamp appear'd, And ages ere the Mantuan swan was heard. 1895 G. B. Shaw in Sat. Rev. 28 Sept. 409/1 Every one concerned..is full of earnest belief that the splendour of the Swan will be revealed at last, like the Holy Grail. 1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. ix. [Scylla & Charybdis] 180 Shakespeare..does not stay to feed the pen chivying her game of cygnets towards the rushes. The swan of Avon has other thoughts. d. [ < swan v.¹ 2] An apparently aimless journey; an excursion made for reconnaissance or for pleasure. slang (originally Military). ΘΚΠ society > travel > aspects of travel > travel from place to place > [noun] > without fixed aim or wandering > wandering idly > instance of swan1946 1946 Visct. Montgomery El Alamein 45 A recurrence of what was then becoming known in the Eighth Army as the ‘annual swan’ between Egypt and El Agheila. 1958 Spectator 23 May 665/2 The General.., yielding to a very natural temptation to go for a ‘swan’ early in the battle, was away from his headquarters for over thirty-six hours. 1960 C. Achebe No Longer at Ease xvii. 153 But for an African like you, who has too many privileges as it is, to ask for two weeks to go on a swan, it makes me want to cry. 1968 Listener 22 Feb. 238/1 It [sc. a festival] has become an accepted ‘swan’ for the British correspondents. 1974 D. Hart-Davis Peter Fleming iv. 75 The trip as a whole was designed to be what he later called a ‘swan’—a general look round. 1979 D. Clark Heberden's Seat vii. 150 ‘Reed and I may have to go to London for the day.’.. ‘It's not just a swan is it?’ 3. a. A figure of a swan, as in heraldry. ΘΚΠ society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > heraldic representations of creatures > [noun] > heraldic birds eaglec1380 swana1400 phoenix?a1425 pelicana1430 ravena1450 merlette1451 popinjayc1460 eagletc1494 merliona1500 martletc1519 merlion?a1549 spread eagle1550 meropie1572 spread eaglet1602 alerion1625 liver1668 shoveller1780 eagle in her majesty?1828 double eagle1861 hirondelle1880 pelican in her piety1885 a1400 Octouian 1481 Har armes wer gowles and swan, Trappure and scheld. c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness l. 58 Wyth scheldez of wylde swyn, swanez & cronez. 1480 W. Worcester in J. Nasmith Itineraria (1778) 217 Venella apud signum le swan. 1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (1586) ii. 108 b Whereas that hath a flying swan,..this hath besides the shadow of the same swan. 1627 H. Peacham Compl. Gentleman (rev. ed.) xiii. 184 Three Roses Argent betweene as many Swans proper. b. Astronomy. The northern constellation Cygnus. ΘΚΠ the world > the universe > constellation > Northern constellations > [noun] > Cygnus swan1556 Northern Cross1912 1556 R. Record Castle of Knowl. 264 By it [sc. Lyra] is the Swanne, named Cygnus. 1606 N. Baxter Sir Philip Sydneys Ouránia sig. D4 The siluered Swan that dying sweetly sings, Adorn's with twelue starres her beautifull wings. 1671 Philos. Trans. 1670 (Royal Soc.) 5 2023 The New Star near the Beak of the Swan. 1868 W. Lockyer & J. N. Lockyer tr. A. Guillemin Heavens (ed. 3) 328. †c. plumed swan n. Obsolete a colour in alchemy. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > alchemy > colours > [noun] peacock's tail1612 plumed swan1612 1612 B. Jonson Alchemist ii. ii. sig. D2 Your seuerall colours..Of..the Crow, The Peacocks tayle, the plumed Swan . View more context for this quotation Compounds C1. a. General attributive. (a) swan-bevy n. swan comb n. figurative ΚΠ 1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. 408 The swancomb of the gondola, highreared, forges on. swan feast n. ΚΠ 1850 D. J. Browne Amer. Poultry Yard 250 The ‘swan feasts’, which sometimes have occurred in England,..have been solemnised in the course of the month of September. swan-feather n. ΚΠ c1560 Hunting Cheviot in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1889) III. vi. 309 The swane-fethars that his arrowe bar with his hart-blood the wear wete. swan-flesh n. ΚΠ 1557 R. Edgeworth Serm. very Fruitfull 91 They were forbidden..swanne flesh. swan-flight n. ΚΠ 1959 E. Pound Thrones xcviii. 38 The King's job, vast as the swan-flight. swan-meat n. ΚΠ 1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. viii. [Lestrygonians] 146 Wonder what kind is swanmeat. swan-pie n. ΚΠ 1640 J. D. Knave in Graine iii. i. sig. H1^v Wast not an excellent Swan~pie? 1679 R. Montagu in Buccleuch MSS (Hist. MSS Comm.) (1899) I. 331 My wife gives your Lordship her humble thanks for the swan pie. swan-plumage n. ΚΠ 1953 E. Sitwell Gardeners & Astronomers 37 And Cygnus who gave you all his bright swan-plumage. (b) swan-fashion adv. ΚΠ 1850 D. J. Browne Amer. Poultry Yard 242 They would probably please most palates better, if cooked and served swan fashion. b. Objective. (a) swan-feeder n. (attributive) ΚΠ 1557 Earl of Surrey et al. Songes & Sonettes sig. O.iiii^v Swanfeeder Temms no furder course can passe. swan-hunting n. ΚΠ 1708 London Gaz. No. 4463/2 The King left Yagersburg on Wednesday last, in order to take the Diversion of Swan-Hunting. 1870 P. Gillmore tr. L. Figuier Reptiles & Birds 254 Swan-hunting takes place during the season of moulting. swan-shooting n. ΚΠ 1874 J. W. Long Amer. Wild-fowl Shooting iii. 71 An excellent decoy for swan-shooting..is an old white shirt drawn over a bunch of brush. (b) swan-delighting adj. ΚΠ 1936 W. H. Auden Look, Stranger! 41 The swan-delighting river. swan-eating adj. ΚΠ 1641 J. Milton Of Reformation 22 His canary-sucking, and swan-eating palat. c. Instrumental, etc. swan-clad adj. ΚΠ a1657 G. Daniel Poems (1878) I. 27 Swift Arne, the Thuscan Soile, noe more shall beat, Nor Swan-clad Po run Sweet. swan-drawn adj. ΚΠ 1812 W. Tennant Anster Fair i. iii. 6 The swan-drawn car. swan-instructed adj. ΚΠ 1942 ‘S. Smith’ Mother, what is Man? 59 ‘Charley, Charley, Charley’ cry the swan-instructed curlews. swan-poor adj. ΚΠ 1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. iv. 127 While toward the Sea, our (then-Swan-poorer) Thames Bore downe my Barke vpon her ebbing streames. swan-proud adj. ΚΠ a1618 J. Sylvester Sonn. vii. 9 Sweet Petrarch's Po, and swan-proud Sein. d. Similative and parasynthetic. swan-bosomed adj. ΚΠ 1897 H. N. Howard Footsteps Proserpine 111 A wench..Swan-bosomed. swan-breasted adj. ΚΠ 1930 R. Campbell Adamastor 73 The great swan-breasted seraphs soar and sing. swan-bright adj. ΚΠ 1923 E. Sitwell Bucolic Comedies 35 The swan-bright fountains. swan-feathered adj. ΚΠ 1953 R. Graves Poems 17 Past either cheek Swan-feathered arrows whistle. swan-fledged adj. ΚΠ 1862 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 10 And shake From wings swan-fledged a wheel of watery light. swan-plumed adj. ΚΠ 1600 C. Tourneur Transformed Metamorph. sig. D7 Swan-plum'd Phœbe [= the moon] gards the star-faire night. swan-soft adj. ΚΠ 1925 E. Sitwell Troy Park 12 In the thick swan-soft fields. swan-sweet adj. ΚΠ 1596 R. Rous To C. F. in C. Fitzgeffry Sir Francis Drake sig. A2^v Then let thy swan-sweet verse sing to a Drake. swan-tuned adj. ΚΠ 1604 A. Scoloker Daiphantus sig. D2 Daiphantus hearing such a Swan-tun'd voyce, Was rauisht. swan-winged adj. ΚΠ 1798 W. Sotheby tr. C. M. Wieland Oberon xii. lxvi. 426 Thro' the air the swan-wing'd chariot flew. C2. Special combinations. See also swanherd n., etc. swan-animalcule n. an infusorian of either of the families Trachelocercidæ and Tracheliidæ, esp. Trachelocerca olor, having a long flexible and extensible anterior prolongation like a swan's neck. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > invertebrates > protozoa > class Infusoria > subclass Ciliata > [noun] > order Holotricha > member of family Tracheliidae swan-animalcule1865 1865 T. R. Jones in Intellectual Observer Mar. 121 A Swan animalcule (Trachelocerca olor). swan dive n. U.S. a swallow dive (see swallow n.¹ Compounds 2). ΘΚΠ the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > [noun] > diving into water > specific manner belly flop1895 belly flopper1895 swallow dive1898 swallow-diving1898 swan dive1898 swallow1902 cannonball1905 jackknife1906 honeypot1941 belly-flopping1948 1898 Swimming Mag. Oct. 45/2 The diving..included forward headers,..somersaults and the ‘Swan’ dive from twenty, thirty, and forty feet. 1932 E. Hemingway Death in Afternoon i. 21 As though a diver could control..[the] speed..of a swan dive. 1972 B. F. Conners Don't embarrass Bureau (1973) i. 7 Mrs. Green..executed her swan dive, flopping onto the water with the poise of a stricken bird. swan-dive v. (intransitive). ΘΚΠ the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > move downwards [verb (intransitive)] > dive into water > specific manner swan-dive1912 cannonball1951 swallow-dive1971 1912 J. London Son of Sun ii. 53 I used to swan-dive a hundred and ten feet in the clear. swan-down n. (see swan's-down n.). swan-drop n. (a) the knob on a swan's bill; in quot. 1821 transferred; (b) = swan-shot n. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > hunting > shooting > shooting equipment > [noun] > shot-gun or fowling-piece > shot swan-shot1639 goose-shota1658 buck-shot1776 mustard seed1809 swan-drop1821 snipe-shot1822 buck1845 swan-post1846 loopers1886 the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Cyginae (swans) > [noun] > member of genus Cygnus (miscellaneous) > cygnus olor (common swan) > parts of swan-drop1821 society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [noun] > bullet or shot collectively > shot > large swan-shot1639 swan-drop1821 1821 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 9 62 Hazlitt I own is not pale, because of his rubicund swan-drops. 1853 J. Palliser Solitary Rambles ii. 55 My own saddle-bags contained..powder and shot, and, by great good luck, some swan-drops. 1865 Pall Mall Gaz. 13 Sept. 9/2 Firearms..loaded with heavy swan drops. swan-flower n. = swan-plant n. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > orchids satyrionOE bollockwort?a1300 sanicle14.. bollock?a1425 martagon1548 orchis1559 dogstones1562 hare's-ballocks1562 stone1562 bollock grass1578 dog's cods1578 dog's cullions1578 double-leaf1578 fly-orchis1578 goat's cullions1578 goat's orchis1578 priest's pintle1578 twayblade1578 bee-orchis1597 bifoil1597 bird's nest1597 bird's orchis1597 butterfly orchis1597 fenny-stones1597 gelded satyrion1597 gnat satyrion1597 humble-bee orchis1597 lady's slipper1597 sweet ballocks1597 two-blade1605 cullions1611 bee-flower1626 fly-flower1640 man orchis1670 musk orchis1670 moccasin flower1680 gnat-flower1688 faham tea1728 Ophrys1754 green man orchis1762 Arethusa1764 honey flower1771 cypripedium1775 rattlesnake plantain1778 Venus's slipper1785 Adam and Eve1789 lizard orchis179. epidendrum1791 Pogonia?1801 Vanda1801 cymbidium1815 Oncidium1822 putty-root1822 Noah's Ark1826 yellow moccasin1826 gongora1827 cattleya1828 green man1828 nervine1828 stanhopea1829 dove-flower1831 catasetum1836 Odontoglossum1836 Miltonia1837 letter plant1838 spread eagle1838 letter-leaf1839 swan-plant1841 orchid1843 disa1844 masdevallia1845 Phalaenopsis1846 faham1850 Indian crocus1850 moccasin plant1850 pleione1851 dove orchis1852 nerve root1854 Holy Ghost flower1862 basket-plant1865 lizard's tongue1866 mousetail1866 Sobralia1866 swan-neck1866 swanwort1866 Indian shoe1876 odontoglot1879 wreathewort1879 moth orchid1880 rattlesnake orchid1881 dendrobe1882 dove-plant1882 Madeira orchis1882 man orchis1882 swan-flower1884 slipper-orchid1885 slipper orchis1889 mayflower1894 scorpion orchid1897 moederkappie1910 dove orchid1918 monkey orchid1925 man orchid1927 1884 W. Miller Dict. Eng. Names Plants Swan-flower, of Surinam, Cycnoches Loddigesii. swan-goose n. a large long-necked species of goose from Eastern Asia, Cygnopsis cygnoides, also called Chinese or Guinea goose. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > [noun] > member of subfamily Anserinea (goose) > genus Anser > anser cygnoides (swan-goose) China-goose1602 swan-goose1678 Guinea goose1879 1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. 360 The Swan-Goose: Anser cygnoides Hispanicus seu Guineensis... It is a stately Bird, walking with the Head and Neck decently erected. 1804 T. Bewick Hist. Brit. Birds II. 281 (heading) Swan Goose. Chinese, Spanish, Guinea, or Cape Goose. swan-mussel n. a common species of freshwater mussel, Anodonta cygnea. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Pelecypoda or Conchifera > [noun] > section Asiphonida > family Unionidae > genus Anodont > member of swan-mussel1777 1777 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. (ed. 4, quarto) IV. vi. 113 Mytilus.. Cygneus..Swan. M[ussel] with a thin brittle shell, very broad and convex, marked with concentric striæ. 1864 Intellectual Observer Sept. 67 The swan-mussel (Anodonta)..is one of the largest of our bivalve molluscs. † swan-pen n. [compare Middle Dutch swan(en)penne swan's quill, swanenpipe swan's quill, especially one used as a drainpipe] Obsolete = swan-quill n.; also, a pipe of the width of a swan-quill (cf. pen n.² 3a) for draining. ΘΚΠ society > communication > writing > writing materials > writing instrument > [noun] > pen > quill pen featherc1000 swan-pen1426 goose-quill1552 quill1552 goose-pena1616 pen1653 quill pen1725 crow-quill1740 twill1825 swan-quill1839 society > occupation and work > equipment > conveyor > [noun] > conduit, channel, or tube > pipe > other types of pipe swan-pen1426 service pipe1718 standpipe1728 service1786 jet pipe1795 safety tube1803 gas pipe1807 outlet pipe1837 pipette1839 downpipe1846 nipple1863 downcomer1868 downcome1872 wyea1877 benda1884 Y brancha1884 gas line1887 sparge pipe1910 riser1962 marine riser1972 1426 Cov. Leet Bk. 108 Þat ther be no pype [to a conduit] more then a swan penne. a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Lion & Mouse l. 1357 in Poems (1981) 55 Ane roll off paper in his hand he bair, Ane swannis pen [1621 Hart Swane-pen] stikkand vnder his eir. swan-plant n. (a) an orchid of the South American genus Cycnoches, having flowers with a long curved column like a swan's neck; (b) a W. Indian species of birthwort, Aristolochia grandiflora, also called Pelican-flower. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > birthwort > [noun] Aristolochiaa1398 astrologiaa1425 round aristolochia?a1425 Saracen's mint1526 sarazine1526 heartwort1548 round heartwort1548 birthwort1551 round birthwort1551 Saracen's herb1585 Saracen's birth-wort1597 clematite1712 swan-plant1841 serpent-withe1864 the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > orchids satyrionOE bollockwort?a1300 sanicle14.. bollock?a1425 martagon1548 orchis1559 dogstones1562 hare's-ballocks1562 stone1562 bollock grass1578 dog's cods1578 dog's cullions1578 double-leaf1578 fly-orchis1578 goat's cullions1578 goat's orchis1578 priest's pintle1578 twayblade1578 bee-orchis1597 bifoil1597 bird's nest1597 bird's orchis1597 butterfly orchis1597 fenny-stones1597 gelded satyrion1597 gnat satyrion1597 humble-bee orchis1597 lady's slipper1597 sweet ballocks1597 two-blade1605 cullions1611 bee-flower1626 fly-flower1640 man orchis1670 musk orchis1670 moccasin flower1680 gnat-flower1688 faham tea1728 Ophrys1754 green man orchis1762 Arethusa1764 honey flower1771 cypripedium1775 rattlesnake plantain1778 Venus's slipper1785 Adam and Eve1789 lizard orchis179. epidendrum1791 Pogonia?1801 Vanda1801 cymbidium1815 Oncidium1822 putty-root1822 Noah's Ark1826 yellow moccasin1826 gongora1827 cattleya1828 green man1828 nervine1828 stanhopea1829 dove-flower1831 catasetum1836 Odontoglossum1836 Miltonia1837 letter plant1838 spread eagle1838 letter-leaf1839 swan-plant1841 orchid1843 disa1844 masdevallia1845 Phalaenopsis1846 faham1850 Indian crocus1850 moccasin plant1850 pleione1851 dove orchis1852 nerve root1854 Holy Ghost flower1862 basket-plant1865 lizard's tongue1866 mousetail1866 Sobralia1866 swan-neck1866 swanwort1866 Indian shoe1876 odontoglot1879 wreathewort1879 moth orchid1880 rattlesnake orchid1881 dendrobe1882 dove-plant1882 Madeira orchis1882 man orchis1882 swan-flower1884 slipper-orchid1885 slipper orchis1889 mayflower1894 scorpion orchid1897 moederkappie1910 dove orchid1918 monkey orchid1925 man orchid1927 1841 Florist's Jrnl. (1846) 2 135 Cycnoches Loddigesii. This is the swan plant. 1848 R. H. Schomburgk Hist. Barbados 621 Aristolochia grandiflora.. Jamaica, Trinidad. The Swan Plant. swan-post n. [ < French poste; compare Cotgrave, ‘Postes, big haile-shot for Herons, Geese, and other such great fowle’] = swan-shot n. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > hunting > shooting > shooting equipment > [noun] > shot-gun or fowling-piece > shot swan-shot1639 goose-shota1658 buck-shot1776 mustard seed1809 swan-drop1821 snipe-shot1822 buck1845 swan-post1846 loopers1886 1846 C. St. John Wild Sports Highlands 252 With the double-barrel loaded with swan-post. swanproof adj. not susceptible to the influence of Shakespeare (cf. sense 2c).Apparently an isolated use. ΚΠ 1905 G. B. Shaw in Shaw on Theatre (1958) 103 Since Shakespear's words are still the basis of the dialogue, there are moments when the bard enjoys his own again; for all the players are not as completely swanproof as Mr Tree. swan-quill n. a swan's feather, or a pen made of one. ΘΚΠ society > communication > writing > writing materials > writing instrument > [noun] > pen > quill pen featherc1000 swan-pen1426 goose-quill1552 quill1552 goose-pena1616 pen1653 quill pen1725 crow-quill1740 twill1825 swan-quill1839 1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 454 Crow quills for draughtsmen, as well as swan quills, are prepared in the same way. 1900 S. J. Weyman Sophia xxv She unearthed a pewter ink-pot and an old swan-quill. swan's bath n. pseudo-archaic the water, the sea. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > water > sea or ocean > [noun] sea-floodc893 brimc937 streamc950 foamOE mereOE seaOE sea of (the) oceanc1300 brookc1400 float1477 strand1513 breec1540 burnc1540 broth1558 Thetisie1600 fishpond1604 brine1605 pond1612 Thetisc1620 brack1627 herring-pond1686 tide1791 black water1816 lave1825 briny1831 salt water1839 blue1861 swan's bath1865 puddle1869 ditch1922 oggin1945 1865 C. Kingsley Hereward iv, in Good Words Jan. 96/2 Take to the sea like your ancestor, and come over the swan's bath with me! † swan's beak n. Obsolete ΚΠ 1631 H. Crooke Expl. Instr. Chirurg. 43 Another Instrument called the Swans beake, the sides whereof are opened by a screw when it is insinuated into the wound. † swan's bill n. Obsolete a kind of surgical forceps (cf. crane's-bill n. 2). ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > healing > medical appliances or equipment > surgical instruments > [noun] > forceps tenaclesc1400 tongsc1425 raven's bill1446 parrotbill1598 duck's bill1601 swan's bill1631 forceps1634 beaks1656 volsella1684 tenaculum1693 rostrum1722 crane's-bill1753 porte-aiguille1830 volsellum1851 vulsellum1863 iris-forceps1874 speculum forceps1875 bulldog forceps1880 1631 H. Crooke Expl. Instr. Chirurg. 41 Those instruments framed to draw out bullets..out of wounds..are almost all called by one generall name, Bills or Beakes, as the Crowes Bill, the Cranes Bill, the Drakes Bill, the Parrots Bill, and the Swans Bill. swan's egg n. (also swan-egg) name of a variety of pear. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > pear > other types of calewey1377 honey peara1400 pome-pear1440 pome-wardena1513 choke-pear1530 muscadel1555 worry pear1562 lording1573 bon-chrétienc1575 Burgundian pear1578 king pear1585 pound pear1585 poppering1597 wood of Jerusalem1597 muscadine1598 amiot1600 bergamot1600 butter pear1600 dew-pear1600 greening1600 mollart1600 roset1600 wax pear1600 bottle pear1601 gourd-pear1601 Venerian pear1601 musk pear1611 rose pear1611 pusill1615 Christian1629 nutmeg1629 rolling pear1629 surreine1629 sweater1629 amber pear1638 Venus-pear1648 horse-pear1657 Martin1658 russet1658 rousselet1660 diego1664 frith-pear1664 maudlin1664 Messire Jean1664 primate1664 sovereign1664 spindle-pear1664 stopple-pear1664 sugar-pear1664 virgin1664 Windsor pear1664 violet-pear1666 nonsuch1674 muscat1675 burnt-cat1676 squash pear1676 rose1678 Longueville1681 maiden-heart1685 ambrette1686 vermilion1691 admiral1693 sanguinole1693 satin1693 St. Germain pear1693 pounder pear1697 vine-pear1704 amadot1706 marchioness1706 marquise1706 Margaret1707 short-neck1707 musk1708 burree1719 marquis1728 union pear1728 Doyenne pear1731 Magdalene1731 beurré1736 colmar1736 Monsieur Jean1736 muscadella1736 swan's egg1736 chaumontel1755 St Michael's pear1796 Williams1807 Marie Louise1817 seckel1817 Bartlett1828 vergaloo1828 Passe Colmar1837 glou-morceau1859 London sugar1860 snow-pear1860 Comice1866 Kieffer pear1880 sand pear1880 sandy pear1884 snowy pear1884 1736 Compl. Family-piece ii. iii. 328 These Pears [Oct.]. Green Sugar, Besidery, Swan's Egg,..and others. 1769 J. Abercrombie Every Man his Own Gardener (ed. 3) 478/1 Pears. Swan egg, Chaumontelle. 1843 J. Smith Forest Trees 163 Swan's egg is a small beautifully shaped pear. 1858 ‘G. Eliot’ Scenes Clerical Life 232 Swan-egg pears. swan's feather n. collectors' name for a species of moth, Porrectaria cygnipennella, with pure white wings (Rennie, 1832). swan-shot n. a large size of shot, used for shooting swans; also used in angling as a weight. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > hunting > shooting > shooting equipment > [noun] > shot-gun or fowling-piece > shot swan-shot1639 goose-shota1658 buck-shot1776 mustard seed1809 swan-drop1821 snipe-shot1822 buck1845 swan-post1846 loopers1886 society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [noun] > bullet or shot collectively > shot > large swan-shot1639 swan-drop1821 the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > weight > [noun] plumbc1450 plummet1577 leada1609 sinker1785 swan-shot1856 sinkstone1857 net sinker1865 net-weight1865 sink1865 bullet1867 block-shot1883 shotting1979 1639 New Haven Colonial Rec. 26 4 pound of pistol shott or swan shott at least. 1675 Essex Inst. Hist. Coll. VIII. 40 One pistole..Loaded with Gunpowder and three swann Shot. 1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 273 Large Swan-Shot; as big as small Pistol Bullets. 1761 S. Niles Indian Wars ii. 343 The corporal of the troops..had five swan-shot in his body. 1821 W. Scott Pirate I. viii. 196 She will put a hundred swan-shot through a Dutchman's cap at eighty paces. 1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Man. Brit. Rural Sports 255/2 Swan-shot or lead, in some form, is required to sink the bait. 1882 M. E. Braddon Mt. Royal III. iv. 57 He is found with an empty bag, and a charge of swan-shot through his heart. 1971 Angling Times 10 June 6/2 Any float will do that a swan shot can't quite take under. † swan's tongue n. Obsolete an old name for hemp-nettle ( Galeopsis tetrahit). ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > labiate plant or plants > [noun] > dead-nettle or hemp-nettle blind-nettleeOE nettleeOE dead-nettle1398 red archangela1425 red dead-nettlea1425 archangel1440 deaf-nettlec1440 swan's tonguec1450 dea-nettle?1530 henbit1597 nettle-hemp1597 day-nettle1635 base horehound1736 Ballota1778 weasel-snout1796 hemp-nettle1801 glidewort1866 Lamium1974 c1450 Alphita (Anecd. Oxon.) 80/2 Herba hircina, i. tetrahit..anglice swanestonge. Swan Vesta n. the proprietary name of a make of match; cf. Vesta n. 4. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > material for igniting > [noun] > match, spill, or taper for lighting > specifically ignited by friction allumette1601 fire cane1644 paper match1780 Strasbourg match1825 match1830 lucifer match1831 fusee1832 loco-foco1835 oxymuriatic match1835 Congreve1839 Vesta1839 friction-match1847 safety match1850 German Congreve1851 Vesuvian1853 star1862 safety1876 tandstickor1884 post-and-railsa1890 book match1899 Swan Vesta1908 1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 24/2 Swan White Pine Vestas. (Bryant & May's.)..Doz..0/3½.] 1908 Trade Marks Jrnl. 12 Aug. 1340 Swan Vestas... Matches. Bryant & May, Limited, Fairfield Works, Bow, London..; match manufacturers. 1958 J. Townsend Young Devils vii. 59 I collected..a number of loose Swan Vestas from the class. 1977 ‘E. Crispin’ Glimpses of Moon vii. 109 Ling gave his Swan Vesta box an experimental shake. C3. with reference to the keeping of swans and swan-upping, as swan-book, swan-hook, swan-house, swan-keeper, swan laws, swan-master, swan-pit, swan-rights, swan-warden, swan-yard. ΚΠ 1524 in Archaeologia (1812) 16 156 That there shall no Swannerd keep, or carry any swan book, but the King's Swannerd. c1560 in Proc. Archæol. Inst., Lincoln (1850) 305 It is lawful for every owner, swanmaister, or swanheard, to pull up, or cut downe ye birdnet. c1560 in Proc. Archæol. Inst., Lincoln (1850) 306 If any person..be found carrijng any swanhooke, and the same person being no swanheard [etc.]. c1560 in Proc. Archæol. Inst., Lincoln (1850) 306 They shall pay a land bird to the king, and be obedient to all swan lawes. 1600–1 in R. Willis & J. W. Clark Archit. Hist. Univ. Cambr. (1886) III. 594 Pro mending the Swanhouse walles iiij^d. 1793 in Blackwood's Mag. Dec. (1888) 862/1 [A minute in the books of the Hospital Trust [of St. Helen's, Norwich] says that a new] swan-yard [was constructed in 1793]. 1812 R. Surtees in J. Raine Mem. J. Hodgson (1857) I. 85 Swan-oats are regularly paid by the adjacent properties to the lessee of the old swan-house on the borders of the morass. 1843 W. Yarrell Hist. Brit. Birds III. 129 The principal governing officers of the [Vintners'] company for the time being are, a Master and three Wardens, the junior Warden of the year being called the Swan Warden. 1848 Bromehead in Proc. Archæol. Inst., Lincoln (1850) 301 (note) The swanhook, attached to a long pole, by means of which the bird might readily be captured by the neck, is frequently introduced as a symbol amongst the varied devices composing the swanmarks in the MS. 1883 G. C. Davies Norfolk Broads xxix. 202 The swan-pit, at the back of the Old Man's Hospital, St. Helen's, Norwich. This pit is an oblong pool or tank,..with perpendicular sides... Here they [sc. cygnets] are fattened for the table, or reared for transmission to their future homes. 1888 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Dec. 861/2 There are several swan-pits belonging to the various owners of swan-rights on the Norwich rivers. 1888 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Dec. 862/1 From 80 to 100 cygnets may be seen..undergoing the process of fattening in the swan-pit. 1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 2 Aug. 2/1 Fourteen years ago the R.S.P.C.A. prosecuted the swan-masters. C4. with reference to the stories in Aryan mythology of supernatural maidens having the power of transforming themselves into swans by means of a robe of swan's feathers or of a magic ring or chain, as swan-bride, swan-hero, swan-maid, swan-maiden (after German schwanenjungfrau), swan-wife, swan-woman; swan-coat, swan-ring, swan-shift (after German schwanenhemd, -ring); also applied to a personage in medieval story, like Lohengrin, accompanied by a swan, as swan-knight (= knight of the swan, German schwanenritter, French chevalier au cygne). ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [noun] > fabulous or mythical human > swan-maiden swan-bride1859 swan-maid1859 swan-maiden1859 swan-wife1859 swan-woman1859 the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [noun] > fabulous or mythical human > swan-maiden > husband of swan-hero1859 the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [noun] > fabulous or mythical human > swan-maiden > robe or ring of swan-coat1859 swan-ring1859 swan-shift1859 1859 G. W. Dasent tr. P.C. Asbjørnsen & J. Moe Pop. Tales from Norse p. lxi Brynhildr and the Valkyries..became swan-maidens. 1862 H. Marryat One Year in Sweden II. lxiv. 389 (note) The smith..fancied his swan-bride had returned. 1865 E. B. Tylor Res. Early Hist. Mankind xii. 346 (note) Three women sit on the shore with their swan-coats beside them, ready to turn into swans and fly away. 1868 S. Baring-Gould Curious Myths Middle Ages 2nd Ser. ix. 298 These swan-maidens are the houris of the Vedic heaven; receiving to their arms the souls of the heroes. 1868 S. Baring-Gould Curious Myths Middle Ages 2nd Ser. ix. 302 At one time there is but a single swan-woman, at another the sky is dark with their numerous wings. 1880 J. S. Stallybrass tr. J. Grimm Teutonic Mythol. I. xvi. 427 The swan-hero forsakes his wife the moment she asks the forbidden question. 1880 J. S. Stallybrass tr. J. Grimm Teutonic Mythol. I. xvi. 427 Many tales of swan-wives still live among the Norse people. 1880 J. S. Stallybrass tr. J. Grimm Teutonic Mythol. I. xvi. 428 When they [sc. swan-maidens] bathe in the cooling flood, they lay down on the bank the swan-ring, the swan-shift. 1889 R. B. Anderson tr. V. Rydberg Teutonic Mythol. 60 Among these swan-maids was Sif. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 133/1 A conclusion, in which the Swan-Knight, Lohengrin, is made Parzival's son. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1918; most recently modified version published online June 2022). swanv.¹ Etymology: < swan n. 1. intransitive (occasionally with it): To swim like a swan. Also transferred. ΚΠ 1893 G. Meredith Lord Ormont I. i. 9 The forest Goddess of the Crescent, swanning it through a lake. 1938 H. G. Wells Apropos of Dolores vi. 304 He began as an Osteopath but afterwards he became a Mind Healer—with Physical Exercises... He taught them to swan (!?) Swan, you know—like swans. Swanning exercises. Some of them swan now quite beautifully. 1962 Listener 13 Sept. 386/2 In his painting Andrea can be seen swanning through the water. 2. To move about freely or in an (apparently) aimless way (formerly, spec. of armoured vehicles); hence, to travel idly or for pleasure. Frequently with about, around, or off. slang (originally Military). ΘΚΠ society > travel > aspects of travel > travel from place to place > [verb (intransitive)] > with no fixed aim or wander > idly roil?c1335 gada1500 stavera1500 vaguea1525 scoterlope1574 idle1599 haika1605 saunter1671 stravaig1801 palmer1805 streel1805 taver1808 traik1818 gander1822 gallivant1823 gilravage1825 project1828 daud1831 meander1831 to knock about1833 to kick about1839 to knock round1848 piroot1858 sashay1865 june1869 tootle1902 slop1907 beetle1919 stooge1941 swan1942 1942 Daily Tel. 3 Sept. 6/6 Breaking up his armour into comparatively small groups of..tanks, he began ‘swanning about’, feeling north, north-west and east for them [sc. British tanks]. a1944 K. Douglas Alamein to Zem Zem (1946) 24 It seemed crazy to go swanning off into the mist. 1945 Times 17 Mar. 4/2 [General Patton's armour]..is ‘swanning’ more or less unchallenged amid the open moors of the Hunsrück plateau. 1947 C. Day Lewis Poetic Image 111 A few bold or bomb-happy types still swanning around outside. 1961 G. Egmont Art of Egmontese i. 15 Another excellent way of making contacts is, of course, ‘swanning’ on the Continent. 1971 Petticoat 17 July 28/1 You can't do that if you're swanning around making films all the time. 1980 D. Bogarde Gentle Occup. viii. 200 She swanned about at the party like the Queen Mother. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1918; most recently modified version published online September 2019). swanv.² Etymology: probably northern English dialect Is' wan lit. ‘I shall warrant’ = I'll be bound; later taken as a mincing substitute for swear v. Compare swanny v. U.S. slang. I swan, I declare: often in exclamatory asseveration. I swan to man, a mitigated form of I swear to God. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > statement > [phrase] I swan1823 swanny1839 I swow1844 1823 Missouri Intelligencer 20 May I swan it is. 1836 T. C. Haliburton Clockmaker (1862) 65 If you hante obsarved it, I have, and a queer one it is, I swan. 1842 C. M. Kirkland Forest Life I. ii. 20 ‘Well! I swan!’ exclaimed the mamma. 1844 ‘J. Slick’ High Life N.Y. I. 3 I swan if it warn't enough to make a feller dry to see the hogsheads of rum and molasses. 1862 J. R. Lowell Biglow Papers 2nd Ser. i. i. 27 They du preach, I swan to man, it's puf'kly indescrib'le! 1873 W. Carleton Betsey & I are Out in Farm Ballads ii ‘What is the matter?’ say you. I swan it's hard to tell! This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1918; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.c700v.¹1893v.²1823
随便看	inverted inverted comma inverted engine inverted loop inverted mordent inverted nipple inverted pedal inverted pendulum inverted pleat inverted racism inverted snob inverted snobbery inverted snobbism inverted spelling inverted sugar inverted turn invertedly invertend inverter inverters invertibilities invertibility invertible invertible counterpoint invertile

swann.

Compounds

swanv.1

swanv.2

swanv.¹

swanv.²