Bosworth Toller's

Anglo-Saxon

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swíma

  • noun [ masculine ]
Dictionary links
Grammar
swíma, an; m.
Wright's OE grammar
§401;
swimming in the head, dizziness, giddiness, vertigo
Show examples

  • Hí áscamode swiciaþ on swíman

    ashamed they wander dizzily,

    • Exon. Th. 79, 33
      • ;
    • Cri. 1300.

  • Wið ðone swíman, nim . . . and cnuca . . . wyrta . . . ofgeót mid wætere . . nim ðone wǽtan and lafa ðen heáfod,

    • Lchdm, iii. 48, 3.
a state of unconsciousness, a swoon
Show examples

  • Licgan on swíman

    to lie unconscious

    ,
    • Judth Thw. 21, 22
      • ;
    • Jud. 30 - 23, 5
      • ;
    • Jud. 106.
Etymology
[
For to wacken him (Lazarus in the grave) of his suime (swyme), C. M. 14201.
  • Halliwell
gives three instances of the word, in the following phrases,
to fall in swyme,
to lie in swyme
,
to come as in swyme
. (In these four passages swyme rimes with tyme. ) He also gives
swimy = giddy in the head, as a Sussex word (v. also E. D. S. Pub. C. 4, where swimy or swimy-headed=- giddy, is given as a Surrey word)
; and
swimer a hard blow as used in Devonshire.
O. Frs. swirna giddiness, swoon
:
Du. zwijm swoon
:
Icel. svimi; liggja í svima to lie in a swoon, slá i svima to stun
:
Dan. svime a swoon; svime-slag a stunning blow.
]
Similar entries
v. heáfod-swíma.
Entry information
Citation

Bosworth, Joseph. “swíma.” 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/29811.

Checked: 2
Full form

Word-wheel

  • swíma, n.

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