Where does “unswimmable” come from?
unswimmable (English) comes from English swimmable, from English swim, from Middle English swime, from Old English swima, from Proto-West Germanic swimman, from Proto-Germanic swimmaną, from Proto-Indo-European swem(bʰ)- — to bend, turn, swing; to be unsteady, move, swim.
unswimmable (English): Not swimmable; that cannot be swum
Definitions
- Not swimmable; that cannot be swum
Ancestry of “unswimmable”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | swimmable | Able to be swum in or across |
| 2 | English | swim | To move through the water, without touching the... |
| 3 | Middle English | swime | — |
| 4 | Old English | swima | a swoon, swimming in the head |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | swimman | to swim |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | swimmaną | to be unsteady; to swim; float |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | swem(bʰ)- | to bend, turn, swing; to be unsteady, move, swim |