Etymograph

English

swive

Swive comes from Old English swīfan ‘to move, sweep, wend, revolve’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ksweybʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ksweybʰ-‘to move swiftly, swing, whip’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kswéybʰ-e-tireconstructedthematic root present of *ksweybʰ-
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*swībaną‘to wipe, sweep’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150swīfan‘to move, sweep, wend, revolve’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500swiven
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1674swive

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ksweybʰ-‘to move swiftly, swing, whip’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kswéybʰ-e-tireconstructedthematic root present of *ksweybʰ-
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*swībaną‘to wipe, sweep’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150swīfan‘to move, sweep, wend, revolve’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500swiven
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1674swive

Earliest quotation: c. 1674, John, Earl of Rochester Wilmot: “'Tis sure the sauciest prick that e'er did swive”.

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

Today it means

verb To have sex with (someone).

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ksweybʰ- / swive

Shirt and support for this word