Bosworth Toller's

Anglo-Saxon

Dictionary online

æ
þ

swǽman

  • verb [ weak ]
Dictionary links
Grammar
swǽman, p. de
To trouble, afflict, grieve. The verb occurs in this sense in later English
Show examples

  • Ofte hit timeð þat tat leoueste bearn sorheð and sweameð meast his ealdren,

    • H. M. 35, 5.

  • Þe engles beoð isweamed, þat seoð hare suster swa sorhfulliche afallet,

    • 17, 20.

  • Ure Louerd ne mei uor reouðe wernen hire, ne sweamen hire heorte mid wernunge,

    • A. R. 330, 11.

  • Þe swemande sorȝe soȝt to his hert,

    • Allit. Pms. 54, 563.
  • Cf. also:

    His hert began to melt For veray sweme of this swemeful tale,

    • Lydgate (cited ib. p. 199)
    . Swemyn molestor, mereo; sweem, swemynge or mornynge

    tristicia, molestia, meror

    ,
    • Prompt. Parv. 482, col. 1.
  • In A. S. only the compound á-swǽman (q. v.) is found, apparently with the meaning to become troubled or grieved. To the instance given under á-swǽman may be added the following :--

    Swá Sanctus Paulus cwæþ ðætte God héte ealle ða áswǽman æt heofona ríces dura, ða ðe heora cyrican forlǽtaþ

    God would bid all those grieve. . .

    ,
    • Blickl. Homl. 41, 34.

  • Sceolde se mín þearfa áswǽman ( have cause to grieve ) æt ðínre handa,

      Wulfst. 258, 2.

  • Se sceocca sceall áswǽman æt ús, gif wé ánrǽde beóþ on úrum geleáfan,

    • Homl. Skt. i. 17, 203.
Similar entries
v. swámian.
Linked entries
v.  á-swǽman.
Entry information
Citation

Bosworth, Joseph. “swǽman.” In An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online, edited by Thomas Northcote Toller, Christ Sean, and Ondřej Tichy. Prague: Faculty of Arts, Charles University, 2014. https://bosworthtoller.com/29500.

Checked: 2
Full form

Word-wheel

  • swǽman, v.

Copyright

All the data provided here are free for any purpose. If you use the data for academic purposes, we ask that you kindly cite us as your source. In case you need a large portion of the dictionary data or you need it in a specific format, let us know through the contact form, we are happy to do custom database dumps for researchers.

How to cite

You can cite the entries of the online version of the dictionary, or you can cite the scanned pages of the original paper editions.

  • To cite the online version of the dictionary, click the icon right under the entry.
  • To cite the scanned paper version of the dictionary, click the "show/hide this scanned page" link under the entry, check the scan and use the citation information right above it.