swien

See also: Swien

Middle English

Etymology

Old English swigian (“to be or become silent, quiet or still”), from Proto-Germanic *swīgijaną, *swīgāną. Cognate with Dutch zwijgen (“to be silent, keep quiet”), ‎ German schweigen (“to be silent, keep quiet, stop talking”).

Verb

swīen

  1. to be silent, to refrain from speaking or making sound

Usage notes

  • Not to be confused with sweien (“make a sound”), with which it was homophonous by the 13th century.[1]

Alternative forms

References

  1. ↑ Edna Rees Williams, The Conflict of Homonyms in English (1944), page 100
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.