英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

Swiss (n.)[Swiss 词源字典]: 1510s, from Middle French Suisse, from Middle High German Suizer, from Suiz "Switzerland" (see Switzerland and compare Switzer (1570s), archaic word for "a Swiss," and German Schweiz). As an adjective from 1520s. Swiss banks were notable for assuring anonymity and security by 1949. Swiss cheese is attested from 1808; as a type of something full of holes, from 1924.[Swiss etymology, Swiss origin, 英语词源]
switch (n.): 1590s, "slender riding whip," probably from a Flemish or Low German word akin to Middle Dutch swijch "bough, twig," or swutsche, variant of Low German zwukse "long thin stick, switch," from Germanic base *swih- (cognates: Old High German zwec "wooden peg," German Zweck "aim, design," originally "peg as a target," Zwick "wooden peg"), perhaps connected with PIE root *swei- (2) "to swing, bend, to turn."

The meaning "device for changing the direction of something or making or breaking a connection" is first recorded 1797. "The peg sense suits the mech(anical) applications" [Weekley], cognates: switchblade, and these senses in English may be a direct borrowing from those senses in Continental Germanic languages rather than a continuation of the "pliant wand" sense. The meaning "a change from one to another, a reversal, an exchange, a substitution" is first recorded 1920; extended form switcheroo is by 1933.
switch (v.): 1610s, "to strike with a switch," from switch (n.). Related: Switched; switching. The meaning "turn (off or on) with a switch device" is first recorded 1853 of trains on tracks, 1881 of electricity, 1932 of radio or (later) television. Sense of "shift, divert" is from 1860. Meaning "to change one thing for another" is recorded from 1919. Switch-hitter is 1945 in baseball slang; 1956 in the sense of "bisexual person."
switchable (adj.): 1954, from switch (v.) + -able.
switchback (n.): in reference to zig-zag railways, 1863, from switch (v.) + back (adv.). As an adjective from 1873.
switchblade (n.): also switch-blade, type of folding pocket knife, 1932, from switch (n.) + blade. So called for the "switch" which is pressed to spring the knife open. Earlier a similar tool was known as an Arkansas toothpick (1837) and a clasp-knife (1755).
switchboard (n.): also switch-board, "device for making interchangeable connections between many circuits," 1867, from switch (n.) + board (n.1).
Switzerland: named for Schwyz, one of its original cantons. On postage stamps, etc., identified by the Roman name for the region, Helvetia, to avoid having to print the four different forms of the name in the countryâs four official languages: Suisse, Schweiz, Svizzera, Svizra.
swivel (n.): c. 1300, "coupling device that allows independent rotation," from frequentative form of stem of Old English verb swifan "to move in a course, revolve, sweep" (a class I strong verb), from Proto-Germanic *swif- (cognates: Old Frisian swiva "to be uncertain," Old Norse svifa "to rove, ramble, drift"), from PIE root *swei- (2) "to turn, bend, move in a sweeping manner."

Related Middle English swive was the principal slang verb for "to have sexual intercourse with," a sense that developed c. 1300. This probably explains why, though the root is verbal, the verb swivel is not attested in Modern English until 1794. Compare Middle English phrase smal-swivinge men "men who copulate infrequently."
swivel (v.): 1794 (transitive), from swivel (n.). Intransitive use from 1846. Related: Swiveled; swiveling; swivelled; swivelling.
swivet (n.): "a fluster," 1867, U.S. dialect, of unknown origin.
swizzle (n.): 1813, name for various kinds of liquor drinks, or for intoxicating drinks generally, possibly a variant of switchel "a drink of molasses and water" (often mixed with rum), first attested 1790, of uncertain origin. As a verb from 1843. Related: Swizzled; swizzling. Swizzle-stick, used for stirring drinks, attested by 1859.
swollen (adj.): early 14c., past participle adjective from strong conjugation of swell (v.); from Old English geswollen, past participle of swellan.
swoon (n.): c. 1300, suowne, suun, "state of unconsciousness," probably from Old English geswogen "in a faint," past participle of a lost verb *swogan (see swoon (v.)).
swoon (v.): c. 1200, "to become unconscious," probably from a lost Old English verb *swogan (as in Old English aswogan "to choke"), of uncertain origin. Compare Low German swogen "to sigh." Related: Swooned; swooning.
swoop (v.): 1560s, "to move or walk in a stately manner," apparently from a dialectal survival of Old English swapan "to sweep, brandish, dash," from Proto-Germanic *swaip-, from PIE root *swei- (2) "to bend, turn" (see swivel (n.)). Meaning "pounce upon with a sweeping movement" first recorded 1630s (see swoop (n.)). Spelling with -oo- may have been influenced by Scottish and northern England dialectal soop "to sweep," from Old Norse sopa "to sweep." Related: Swooped; swooping.
swoop (n.): 1540s, "a blow, stroke," from swoop (v.). Meaning "the sudden pouncing of a rapacious bird on its prey" is 1605, from Shakespeare:
Oh, Hell-Kite! All? What, All my pretty Chickens, and their Damme, At one fell swoope? ["Macbeth," IV.iii.219]
swoosh (n.): 1860, sound made by something (originally a fishing rod during a cast) moving rapidly through the air; imitative. As a verb from 1867. The Nike corporate logo so called from 1989.
sword (n.): Old English sweord, swyrd (West Saxon), sword (Northumbrian) "sword," from Proto-Germanic *swerdam (cognates: Old Saxon, Old Frisian swerd, Old Norse sverð, Swedish svärd, Middle Dutch swaert, Dutch zwaard, Old High German swert, German Schwert "a sword"), related to Old High German sweran "to hurt," from *swertha-, literally "the cutting weapon," from PIE root *swer- (3) "to cut, pierce."

Contrast with plowshare is from the Old Testament (Isaiah ii:4, Micah iv:3). Phrase put (originally do) to the sword "kill, slaughter" is recorded from mid-14c. An older Germanic word for it is in Old Saxon heoru, Gothic hairus "a sword."
sword-belt (n.): early 14c., from sword + belt (n.). Old English had sweordfætels "sword-belt."