swan

CEFRB1

/swɒn/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A large white water bird with a long neck.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    One whose grace etc. suggests a swan.

Examples

  • An ugly duckling became a graceful swan.

  • Ms. Swan is our English teacher.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. This bird used as a heraldic charge, sometimes with a crown around its neck (e. g. the arms of Buckinghamshire).

  2. Any of various species of large, long-necked waterfowl, of genus Cygnus (bird family: Anatidae), most of which have white plumage.

verb

Extra meaning

  1. To travel or move about in an aimless, idle, or pretentiously casual way.

More examples

In context

  • The swan flapped its wings noisily.

  • He swans around that stinking office in his expensive clothes that are a little too tight for comfort, he swans around that stinking office without a care in the world.

  • ‘She slammed the door so hard I figured a window'd break […].’ ‘I swan,’ I said.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The elegant white blank with a long curved neck glided silently across the lake.

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

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English swan, from Old English swan, from Proto-West Germanic *swan, from Proto-Germanic *swanaz (“swan”, literally “the singing bird”), from Proto-Indo-European *swonh₂-/*swenh₂- (“to sing, make sound”). Cognate with West Frisian swan, Low German Swaan, swan, Dutch zwaan, German Schwan, Danish svane, Norwegian svane, Swedish svan. Related also to Old English ġeswin (“melody, song”), Old English swinsian (“to make melody”). Further cognates include (possibly) Russian звон (zvon, “ring, chime”); Latin sonus (“sound”), Sanskrit स्वन् (svan, “sound”). Doublet of sound.