English
swain
Swain comes from Middle English swayn ‘young man’, from Old Norse sveinn ‘servant, lackey’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swé ‘oneself’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swé‘oneself’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*swainaz‘relative, young man, servant’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350sveinn‘servant, lackey’
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sweġen‘young man’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500swayn‘young man’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588swain
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swé‘oneself’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*swainaz‘relative, young man, servant’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350sveinn‘servant, lackey’
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sweġen‘young man’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500swayn‘young man’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588swain
Earliest quotation: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “theſe that ſeeme but ſilly country Swaines, May haue…”
The story
From Middle English swayn, swain, sweyn, swein, from Old English sweġen (attested also as personal name Swein, Sweġen), from Old Norse sveinn, from Proto-Germanic *swainaz (‘relative, young man, servant’), from Proto-Indo-European *swé (‘oneself; separate; apart’), thus properly one's own.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *swé ‘oneself’
such, self, suicide, solo, idiot, sole, solitary, sans, solitude, desolate, desolation, idiocy, solitaire, sullen, solus, sere, 19 more
Today it means
noun A young man or boy in service; a servant.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *swé / swain