Where does “swam” come from?
swam (Middle Dutch) comes from Old Dutch swam, from Proto-Germanic *swammaz, from Proto-Indo-European swombh- — sponge, tree-fungus, swamp.
Ancestry of “swam”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old Dutch | swam | — |
| 2 | Proto-Germanic | *swammaz | — |
| 3 | Proto-Indo-European | swombh- | sponge, tree-fungus, swamp |
Words derived from “swam”