swain

American  

[sweyn] / sweɪn /

noun

1. a male admirer or lover.

2. a country lad.

3. a country gallant.

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swain British  

/ sweɪn /

noun

1. a male lover or admirer

2. a country youth

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Other Word Forms

• swainish adjective
• swainishness noun
• underswain noun

Etymology

Origin of swain

before 1150; Middle English swein servant < Old Norse sveinn boy, servant; cognate with Old English swān

Explanation

If you want to sound old-fashioned and a little bit fancy, you can refer to your boyfriend as your swain. Old words in English tend to accumulate meanings like old rocks accumulate barnacles, and this one's no exception. These days most folks use it as an elegant variation on male admirer, but originally it denoted a rustic or peasant, specifically a young man or boy who worked as a knight's servant. It comes from the Old Norse word sveinn, which means "boy, servant, or attendant."

Example Sentences

Like a handsome but withholding swain, Elba draws us back to “Luther” time and again.

From Salon • Jun. 1, 2019

Hopeful swain Melchor moves to L.A. to meet his online love, Magdalena, for the first time, only to fall in love with a mysterious masked woman — unaware that she is Magdalena in disguise.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 22, 2018

It’s back to the archipelago with this 1990 musical by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty in which a peasant girl and a wealthy swain are tangled in a divine bet between love and death.

From New York Times • Nov. 30, 2017

Roushdi’s ardent swain comes on like a blast furnace in Act I, while Molina’s opening room-temperature narration doesn’t fire on all cylinders.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 2, 2017

Your swain since 1912 with the patience of Job.

From "Dead End in Norvelt" by Jack Gantos