swine

English edit

Etymology edit

From Middle English swyn, swin, from Old English swīn, from Proto-West Germanic *swīn, from Proto-Germanic *swīną, from an adjectival form of Proto-Indo-European *suH- (“pig”), equivalent to sow +‎ -en.

Cognates

Related to West Frisian swyn, Low German Swien, Dutch zwijn, German Schwein, Danish and Swedish svin, and more distantly to Polish świnia, Russian свинья́ (svinʹjá), Latin sūinus, Latin sūs, Ancient Greek ὗς (hûs), Persian (xuk).

Pronunciation edit

IPA^(key): /swaɪn/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -aɪn

Noun edit

swine (plural swine or swines)

(plural swine) A pig (the animal).
(derogatory) A contemptible person (plural swines).
(slang, derogatory) A police officer; a "pig".
(slang, derogatory) Something difficult or awkward; a pain.
That old car is a swine to manoeuvre.

Usage notes edit

In its literal sense, swine is often used, like cattle, as an uncountable plurale tantum: 200 head of swine.

Derived terms edit

Translations edit

pig — see pig

contemptible person

Chinese:
Mandarin: 卑賤的人／卑贱的人 (zh) (bēijiàn de rén)
Czech: svině (cs) f
Danish: svin (da) n
Dutch: smeerlap (nl) m
Finnish: sika (fi)
French: porc (fr) m, vermine (fr) f, (man) salaud (fr) m, (woman) garce (fr) f
German: Schwein (de) n
Hebrew: חזיר (he) m
Hungarian: disznó (hu)
Icelandic: svín (is) n
Indonesian: bajingan (id), bangsat (id)
Italian: porco (it) m
Japanese: 下劣な人 (ja) (げれつなひと, geretsu na hito)
Korean: 돼지 (ko) (dwaeji)
Middle English: swyn
Ottoman Turkish: خنزیر (hınzır)
Polish: świnia (pl) f
Portuguese: canalha (pt) m or f
Russian: свинья́ (ru) f (svinʹjá)
Spanish: cerdo (es), canalla (es)
Swedish: svin (sv) n

See also edit

Appendix:English collective nouns

Noun edit

swine

(archaic) plural of sow

Anagrams edit

Wenis, Wiens, Wines, sewin, sinew, swein, we'ins, wenis, wines, wisen

Middle English edit

Noun edit

swine

Alternative form of swyn

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