Where does “swimmen” come from?

swimmen (Middle High German) comes from Old High German swimman, from Proto-West Germanic swimman, from Proto-Germanic swimmaną, from Proto-Indo-European swem(bʰ)- — to bend, turn, swing; to be unsteady, move, swim.

swimmen (Middle High German): to swim

Definitions

  1. to swim

Ancestry of “swimmen”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old High Germanswimman—
2Proto-West Germanicswimmanto swim
3Proto-Germanicswimmanąto be unsteady; to swim; float
4Proto-Indo-Europeanswem(bʰ)-to bend, turn, swing; to be unsteady, move, swim

Words derived from “swimmen”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European swem(bʰ)- →Every word from Proto-Germanic swimmaną →Every word from Proto-West Germanic swimman →