Schwert

German

Etymology

From Middle High German swert, from Old High German swert (attested since the 8th century); from Proto-Germanic *swerdą, from Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“to fester, to cut”)

Germanic Cognates with identical meaning include Hunsrik Schweert, Low German Sweerd, Dutch zwaard, Afrikaans swaard, English sword, West Frisian swurd, Danish sværd, Norwegian sverd, Swedish svärd, Icelandic sverð, Faroese svørð.

The further etymology outside the Germanic branch is currently unknown. *swerdą, swerða- seems to be a nominal derivative with dental suffix originating from Indo-European *swer- and may, thus, be a cognate to German schwären (“to fester”).[1]

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ʃveːɐ̯t/
  • Rhymes: -eːɐ̯t
  • Hyphenation: Schwert
  • Audio(file)

Noun

Schwert n (genitive Schwertes or Schwerts, plural Schwerter)

  1. sword
    Er zückte augenblicklich sein Schwert.
    He drew his sword immediately.
    Das Katana war ein weit verbreitetes Schwert in Japan.
    The katana was a very common sword in Japan.
    Breitschwert — broadsword
    Langschwert — longsword
  2. blade (of a chainsaw etc.)
  3. dorsal fin (of certain kinds of whales)
    Schwertwal — orca
  4. (heraldry) sword

Declension
Declension of Schwert
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative ein das Schwert die Schwerter
genitive eines des Schwertes,
Schwerts		 der Schwerter
dative einem dem Schwert,
Schwerte1		 den Schwertern
accusative ein das Schwert die Schwerter
1Now uncommon, see notes

Synonyms
  • (blade of a chainsaw): Blatt n, Klinge f
  • (dorsal fin of certain whales): Rückenflosse f

Derived terms
  • Schwertel

References
  1. Pfeifer, Wolfgang. 1995, 2005. Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen. München: dtv. →ISBN.

Further reading
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