swote

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *swōtō ~ *swōtē. Equivalent to swēte +‎ -e. Compare Old High German sozo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈswoː.te/

Adverb

swōte

1. sweetly
   • c. 995, Ælfric, Extracts on Grammar in English

     Oleō: iċ stince swōte.

     Oleo: I smell sweet.

   • late 9th century, Old English Martyrology

     Þā āhlēop sē līchama sōna upp of þām wætre and þæt hēafod on ōðerre stōwe, and sē līchama stanc and þæt hēafod swā swōte swā rosan blostma and līlian.

     Then the body suddenly jumped out of the water, along with the head in another place, and the body and the head smelled as sweet as a blossom of roses and lilies.

2. cutely

References

• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “swóte”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎^[1], 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.