swan

1
[ swon ]

noun
  1. any of several large, stately aquatic birds of the subfamily Anserinae, having a long, slender neck and usually pure-white plumage in the adult.: Compare mute swan, trumpeter swan, whistling swan, whooper swan.

  2. a person or thing of unusual beauty, excellence, purity, or the like.

  1. Literary. a person who sings sweetly or a poet.

  2. Swan, Astronomy. the constellation Cygnus.

Origin of swan

1
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with German Schwan, Old Norse svanr

Other words from swan

  • swanlike, adjective

Words Nearby swan

Other definitions for swan (2 of 3)

swan2
[ swon ]

verb (used without object)
  1. Midland and Southern U.S. Older Use. to swear or declare (used with I): Well, I swan, I never expected to see you here!

Origin of swan

2
1775–85, Americanism; probably continuing dial. (N England) I s'wan, shortening of I shall warrant

Other definitions for Swan (3 of 3)

Swan
[ swon ]

noun
  1. Sir Joseph Wilson, 1828–1914, British chemist, electrical engineer, and inventor.

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How to use swan in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for swan (1 of 3)

swan

/ (swɒn) /


noun
  1. any large aquatic bird of the genera Cygnus and Coscoroba, having a long neck and usually a white plumage: family Anatidae, order Anseriformes

  2. rare, literary

    • a poet

    • (capital when part of a title or epithet): the Swan of Avon (Shakespeare)

verbswans, swanning or swanned
  1. (intr; usually foll by around or about) informal to wander idly

Origin of swan

1
Old English; related to Old Norse svanr, Middle Low German swōn

Derived forms of swan

  • swanlike, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for Swan (2 of 3)

Swan1

/ (swɒn) /


noun
  1. a river in SW Western Australia, rising as the Avon northeast of Narrogin and flowing northwest and west to the Indian Ocean below Perth. Length: about 240 km (150 miles)

British Dictionary definitions for Swan (3 of 3)

Swan2

/ (swɒn) /


noun
  1. Sir Joseph Wilson. 1828–1914, English physicist and chemist, who developed the incandescent electric light (1880) independently of Edison

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012