Where does “swearing” come from?
Swearing derives from Middle English sweren plus the suffix -ing (from Old English -ing), with sweren coming from Middle French sur, ultimately from Latin securus meaning "free from care or anxiety."
swearing (English): present participle of swear; The act of swearing,...
Definitions
- present participle of swear; The act of swearing,...
Ancestry of “swearing”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | swerynge | — |
| 2 | Middle English | sweren | To swear to do something; to make a oral binding... |
| 3 | Old English | swerian | to swear , to promise |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | swarjan | to swear |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | swarjaną | to swear |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | swēr- | heavy |
Words derived from “swearing”