Etymograph

English

swart

Swart comes from Middle English swart ‘Dark, oppressive, blackened’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *swerd-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swerd-‘dark, black’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*swartaz‘black’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*swart‘black’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sweart‘black’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500swart‘Dark, oppressive, blackened’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1590same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swerd-‘dark, black’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*swartaz‘black’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*swart‘black’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sweart‘black’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500swart‘Dark, oppressive, blackened’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1590same form

Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II: “A nation strange, with visage swart”.

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *swerd-

Another origin of swart

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swerd-‘dirty, dark, black’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*swartaz‘black’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*swartōną‘to make black, blacken’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*swartōn‘to blacken’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150sweartian‘to blacken’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500swarten‘to blacken or darken’
  7. Englishtodayswart

Today it means

adj Of a dark hue; moderately black; swarthy; tawny.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *swerd- / swart

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