Where does “swamp” come from?
Swamp comes from Middle English swamm, from Old English swamm, from Proto-Germanic swammaz, from Proto-Indo-European swombʰ-.
swamp (English): A piece of wet, spongy land; low ground saturated...
Definitions
- A piece of wet, spongy land; low ground saturated...
Ancestry of “swamp”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | swam | swamp, muddy pool, bog, marsh", also "fungus,... |
| 2 | Old English | swamm | mushroom, fungus; sponge; first/third-person... |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | *swammaz | — |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | swombh- | sponge, tree-fungus, swamp |
Words derived from “swamp”