† swannetn.
Obsolete. rare.
A young swan, cygnet; chiefly applied figuratively to a poet (cf. swan n. 2c). The reading in the first quot. c1560 is doubtful.
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
the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Cyginae (swans) > [noun] > member of genus Cygnus (miscellaneous) > cygnus olor (common swan) > young
cygnetc1430
stag1544
swannetc1560
staggard1619
c1560 in Proc. Archæol. Inst., Lincoln (1850) 308 It is ordeined, that no person shall take any gray swannet or cignettes.
1605 S. Daniel Trag. Philotas Epistle 53 Though you haue a Swannet of your owne, Within the bankes of Douen meditates Sweet notes to you.
1613 C. Brooke in C. Brooke & W. Browne Two Elegies i. viii. sig. B2 In Tagvs then some Swannet dip his Pen, And of this Eaglet-Issue sing the Fame.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1918; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
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n.c1560