Etymograph

English

swike

Swike comes from Old English swīcan ‘to wander, depart, cease from, yield, give…’, from Proto-West Germanic *swīkwan ‘to dodge, to avoid’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sweyg- ‘to turn, move around, wander, swing’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sweyg-‘to turn, move around, wander, swing’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*swīkwaną‘to dodge, swerve, avoid, betray’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*swīkwan‘to dodge, to avoid’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150swīcan‘to wander, depart, cease from, yield, give way, fail, fall short, be wanting, abandon’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500swiken
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1848swike

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sweyg-‘to turn, move around, wander, swing’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*swīkwaną‘to dodge, swerve, avoid, betray’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*swīkwan‘to dodge, to avoid’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150swīcan‘to wander, depart, cease from, yield, give way, fail, fall short, be wanting, abandon’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500swiken
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1848swike

Earliest quotation: 1848, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Harold: “The Saxon Chronicle contradicts itself as to Algar's outlawry,…”

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

Today it means

verb To deceive, cheat; betray.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sweyg- / swike

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