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
Ancestry of “swimmen”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old High German | swimman | — |
| 2 | Proto-West Germanic | swimman | to swim |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | swimmaną | to be unsteady; to swim; float |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | swem(bʰ)- | to bend, turn, swing; to be unsteady, move, swim |
Words derived from “swimmen”