† swelthn.1
Chiefly Scottish. Obsolete.
1. A whirlpool.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > whirlpool > [noun]
swallowa700
weelc897
suckc1220
swallowinga1387
swelthc1400
swirlc1425
gorce1480
vorage1490
whirlpool1530
gourd1538
gulf1538
poolc1540
hurlpool1552
whirlpit1564
sea-gulf1571
maelstrom1588
vorago1654
well1654
gurges1664
gurge1667
swelchiea1688
vortex1704
tourbillion1712
whirly-pool1727
wheel-pit1828
sea-puss1839
turn-hole1851
suck-hole1909
c1400 Sc. Trojan War (Horstm.) ii. 2273 That swelt half of my schippis has Suellede ande all þat in þaime was.
c1460 Promptorium Parvulorum (Winch.) 445 Swelth of a water or grownd, vorago.
c1480 (a1400) St. Pelagia 181 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 209 Men but nombre als haf I gert synk in-[to] þe suelth of syne.
a1500 Lancelot of Laik (1870) 1318 Thi schip, that goth apone the stormy vall, Ney of thi careldis in the swelf it fall.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid i. iii. 42 Thryise thair the fluide quhirlit about round, The sowcand sweltht.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid i. iv. 73 The ragis of Silla that huge swelth in the se Ȝe haue eschapit.
1601 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 391/2 Passand..be the eist syid of ane arne or aller bus in the lin or suald of Schirestoun.
2. Foul or troubled water.Probably due to misapprehension of a passage in G. Douglas.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > body of water > moving water > [noun] > agitated water
swalla1340
swelth1563
break1852
storm-water1879
1563 T. Sackville in W. Baldwin et al. Myrrour for Magistrates (new ed.) xxxi A deadly gulfe where nought but rubbishe growes, With fowle blacke swelth in thickned lumpes yt lyes.
1563 T. Sackville in W. Baldwin et al. Myrrour for Magistrates (new ed.) lxix Rude Acheron,..That boyles and bubs vp swelth as blacke as hell.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
swelthn.2
/swɛlθ/ Now dialect (see Eng. Dial. Dict.).
(A) swelling (literal and figurative).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > swelling > [noun]
swalm?c1225
bolninga1340
swelling1377
blowinga1398
tumefaction1598
swelth1631
turgency1650
tumidity1828
lumping1851
nodulation1862
nodularity1948
the world > space > extension in space > expansion or enlargement > [noun] > distension > swelling or swollenness
bolninga1340
bollingc1390
bossingc1440
tumour?1541
swelling1577
bulking1599
outswelling1611
swelth1631
turgescence1631
puffedness1648
intumescency1650
inturgescency1650
intumescence1656
obtumescence1657
bloatedness1660
tumefaction1666
turgescency1666
turgence1671
swell1683
tumidness1688
puffiness1699
tumidity1721
turgidity1732
inturgescence1755
tumescence1859
swollenness1902
1631 R. Byfield Doctr. Sabbath Vindicated 101 His wound and bruise could be seene no where but on his head, necke and face in swelth and blacknesse.
1647 J. Trapp Comm. Evangelists & Acts (Matt. xix. 23) The greatest wealth is ordinarily tumoured up with the greatest swelth of rebellion against God.
1672 N. Grew Anat. Veg. vi. 150 The continuance and ampliation, or (as I may call it) the swelth and superbience of the Inner part thereof.
1681 N. Grew Musæum Regalis Societatis ii. i. i. 183 Neither is it only the swelth of the Barque, but the Wood it self is augmented.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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