English
swooping
Swooping comes from Middle English swopen ‘to sweep debris or litter away’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *swaipaną.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*swaipaną‘to sweep’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*swaipan‘to sweep’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150swāpan‘to sweep’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500swopen‘to sweep debris or litter away’
- English1500–presentswoop
- Englishearliest quotation 1988swooping
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*swaipaną‘to sweep’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*swaipan‘to sweep’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150swāpan‘to sweep’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500swopen‘to sweep debris or litter away’
- English1500–presentswoop
- Englishearliest quotation 1988swooping
Earliest quotation: 1988, Douglas Adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul: “With a huge rush of wind a swooping eagle…”
A compound of swoop + -ing
Proto-Germanic *swaipaną ‘to sweep’
Proto-West Germanic *swaipan ‘to sweep’
Old English swāpan ‘to sweep’
Middle English swopen ‘to sweep’
English swoop
Linked words
through Proto-Germanic *swaipaną ‘to sweep’
through Old English swāpan ‘to sweep’
through Middle English swopen ‘to sweep debris or litter away’
Today it means
verb The motion of something that swoops.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *swaipaną / swooping