Etymograph

English

sway

Sway comes from Middle English sweyen ‘to rush, charge, or flow’, from Old English *swǣġan ‘to bend, bow’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sweh₁-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sweh₁-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*swaigijaną‘to fall, droop, or stoop’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*swaigijan‘to fall, droop, or stoop’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150*swǣġan‘to bend, bow’reconstructed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sweyen‘to rush, charge, or flow’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1590sway

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sweh₁-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*swaigijaną‘to fall, droop, or stoop’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*swaigijan‘to fall, droop, or stoop’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150*swǣġan‘to bend, bow’reconstructed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sweyen‘to rush, charge, or flow’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1590sway

Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto XI: “As sparckles from the Anduile vse to fly, /…”

The story

The noun derived from the verb.

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *sweh₁-

Today it means

noun The act of swaying; a swaying motion; a swing or sweep of a weapon.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sweh₁- / sway

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