English
swine
Etymology

From Middle English swyn, swin, from Old English swīn, from Proto-West Germanic *swīn, from Proto-Germanic *swīną, from an adjectival form of Proto-Indo-European *suH-.

Related to Western Frisian swyn, Low German Swien, Dutch zwijn, German Schwein, Danish - and Swedish svin, and more distantly to Polish świnia, Russian свинья́, Latin sūinus, Latin sūs, Ancient Greek ὗς, Persian خوک.

Pronunciation Noun

swine (plural swines or swine)

  1. (plural swine) A pig the animal. The Zimmerman farm introduced swine to their husbandry.
  2. (pejorative) A contemptible person (plural swines).
  3. (slang, derogatory) A police officer; a "pig".
  4. (slang, derogatory) Something difficult or awkward; a pain.
    That old car is a swine to manoeuvre.
Translations Noun
  1. (archaic) plural form of sow


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