swift

See also: Swift and SWIFT

English

Etymology

From Middle English swift, from Old English swift (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Germanic *swiftaz (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)weyp- (“to twist; wind around”). Cognate with Icelandic svipta (“to pull quickly”), Old English swīfan (“to revolve, sweep, wend, intervene”). More at swivel.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /swɪft/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Homophone: Swift
  • Rhymes: -ɪft

Adjective

swift (comparative swifter, superlative swiftest)

  1. Fast; quick; rapid.
    • 2011 November 12, “International friendly: England 1-0 Spain”, in BBC Sport‎:
      Spain were provoked into a response and Villa almost provided a swift equaliser when he rounded Hart but found the angle too acute and could only hit the side-netting.
  2. Capable of moving at high speeds.

Translations

Noun

swift (plural swifts)

  1. A small plain-colored bird of the family Apodidae that resembles a swallow and is noted for its rapid flight.
  2. Any of certain lizards of the genus Sceloporus.
  3. (entomology) A moth of the family Hepialidae, swift moth, ghost moth.
  4. (entomology) Any of various fast-flying hesperiid butterflies.
    • 2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 206-7:
      Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.
  5. A reel for winding yarn.
  6. The main cylinder of a carding-machine.
  7. (obsolete) The current of a stream.

Synonyms

Translations
swift moth — see swift moth

Adverb

swift (comparative more swift, superlative most swift)

  1. (obsolete, poetic) Swiftly.

Synonyms

Derived terms


Old English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From the verb swīfan.

Adjective

swift

  1. swift, quick

Derived terms

Descendants
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