Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “swink” come from?

swink (English) comes from Middle English swink, from Old English swinc, from Old English swincan, from Proto-Germanic swinkaną, from Proto-Indo-European sweng-.

swink (English): toil, work, drudgery; to labour, to work hard; To...

Definitions

  1. toil, work, drudgery; to labour, to work hard; To...

Ancestry of “swink”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishswink—
2Old Englishswinctoil, work, effort, hardship, labor
3Old Englishswincanto toil, labour
4Proto-Germanicswinkanąto swing, bend
5Proto-Indo-Europeansweng-—

Words derived from “swink”

  • swonken
  • swinketh
Every word from Proto-Indo-European sweng- →