Where does “swamp” come from?
swamp (Middle High German) comes from Old High German swamp, from Old English swamm, from Proto-Germanic *swammaz, from Proto-Indo-European swombh- — sponge, tree-fungus, swamp.
Ancestry of “swamp”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old High German | swamp | — |
| 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”