swain
Americannoun
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a male admirer or lover.
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a country lad.
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a country gallant.
noun
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a male lover or admirer
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a country youth
Other Word Forms
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."
Vocabulary lists containing swain
Quiz yourself on these words spoken by the man at the center of the "Laurel" / "Yanny" craze!
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"Thanatopsis" by William Cullen Bryant
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Poems 10.1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It is Elizabeth, not her equally eccentric and stubborn swain, who refuses to wed “because I can’t risk having my scientific contributions submerged beneath your name.”
From Washington Post • Apr. 5, 2022
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
Lindsay Mendez and Alexander Gemignani turn in expertly crafted and beautifully sung performances as Carrie, Julie’s best friend, and her fish-scented swain, Mr. Snow.
From New York Times • Apr. 12, 2018
She was probably avoiding a lovesick swain, not wealthy enough or ancient enough to suit her.
From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
