Etymology Explorer › Old Saxon

Where does “swimman” come from?

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

swimman (Old Saxon): to swim

Definitions

  1. to swim

Ancestry of “swimman”, step by step

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

Words derived from “swimman”

  • swimmen
Every word from Proto-Indo-European swem(bʰ)- →