swain

CEFRB2

/sweɪn/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A young man courting or in love with someone.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A country labourer; a countryman, a rustic.

Examples

  • A swain is an old-fashioned word for a young man or a suitor.

  • The young swain brought a bouquet of flowers to his sweetheart.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
3

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A knight's servant; an attendant.

  2. A young man or boy in service; a servant.

  3. A rural lover; a male sweetheart in a pastoral setting.

More examples

In context

  • The young swain brought flowers to his beloved lady.

  • You're the belle of the ball, and these are all your swains, hoping for a glimpse of ankle.

  • Why thus from the Plain does my Shepherdess rove Forsaking Her Swain and neglecting his love?

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The lovesick blank from the village serenaded his lady with a guitar every evening.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From 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”).