Etymograph

English

swipe

Swipe comes from Middle English swippen ‘to move violently’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sweyb- ‘to bend, sway, swing, sweep, swerve, turn’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sweyb-‘to bend, sway, swing, sweep, swerve, turn’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*swipōnąreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*swippjan‘to move quickly’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sweopian
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500swippen‘to move violently’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1923swipe

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sweyb-‘to bend, sway, swing, sweep, swerve, turn’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*swipōnąreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*swippjan‘to move quickly’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sweopian
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500swippen‘to move violently’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1923swipe

Earliest quotation: 1923, Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, (please specify the page): “From Miss Hemmingway. Miss Hemmingway! But—but how did they…”

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

Today it means

verb To grab or bat quickly.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sweyb- / swipe

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