/sweɪn/
OriginFrom Middle English swayn, swain, sweyn, swein, from Old English sweġen (attested also as personal name Swein, Sweġen), from Old Norse sveinn, from Proto-Germanic *swainaz (“relative, young man, servant”), from Proto-Indo-European *swé (“oneself; separate; apart”), thus properly one's own.
Cognate with Danish svend (“hireling, young man”), Norwegian svein (“lad, young man, servant”) Icelandic sveinn (“boy, lad, servant”), Swedish sven (“swain, servant”), Low German Sween, dialectal German Schwein, Old English swān (“swineherd, lad”).
- obsoleteA young man or boy in service; a servant.
- obsoleteA knight's servant; an attendant.
- archaicA country labourer; a countryman, a rustic.
“theſe that ſeeme but ſilly country Swaines,
May haue the leading of so great an hoſte,
As with their waight ſhal make the mountains quake.”
- poeticA rural lover; a male sweetheart in a pastoral setting.
“Why thus from the Plain does my Shepherdess rove
Forsaking Her Swain and neglecting his love?”
“You're the belle of the ball, and these are all your swains, hoping for a glimpse of ankle.”
Formsswains(plural) · swaine(alternative, obsolete) · swein(alternative, obsolete) · Swains(plural) · Swaine(alternative)