eldertongue

Old English · verb

swifan

Normalised swīfan

Part of speech
verb
Verb class
strong class I
IPA
/ˈswiː.fɑn/
[ˈswiː.vɑn]
Syllables
ˈswiː · fɑn (2 syllables)
Modern English
swiveintervenerevolvesweep

Meaning

  1. to move in a course, revolve

  2. to sweep

  3. to intervene

Conjugation

Conjugation of swifan
PresentPast
Indicative
1st singular swīfeswāf
2nd singular swīfstswife
3rd singular swīfþswāf
Plural swīfaþswifon
Subjunctive
Singular swīfeswife
Plural swīfenswifen
Non-finite forms of swifan
Form
Infinitive swīfan
Inflected infinitive swīfenne
Imperative singular swīf
Imperative plural swīfaþ
Present participle swīfende
Past participle swifenġeswifen

All forms (14)

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *swībaną (“to move”). Cognate with Old Frisian swīva, swīfa (“to waver”), Old Norse svífa (“to drift, ramble, rove”), Gothic (sweiban).

Descendants

swift, swive

Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · en.wiktionary.org/wiki/swifan · CC BY-SA 4.0 licence · Attribution