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.

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

3. Literary.,  a person who sings sweetly or a poet.

4. Astronomy.,  Swan, the constellation Cygnus.

swan

²

[swon]

verb (used without object)

1. Midland and Southern U.S. Older Use.,  to swear or declare (used withI ).

   Well, I swan, I never expected to see you here!

Swan

³

[swon]

noun

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

swan

¹

/ 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

   1. a poet

   2. ( capital when part of a title or epithet )

      the Swan of Avon (Shakespeare)

verb

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

Swan

²

/ 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)

Swan

³

/ swɒn /

noun

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

Other Word Forms

• swanlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of swan¹

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

Origin of swan²

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of swan¹

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

Example Sentences

None of my friends received a latte swan.

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He doesn’t discount the possibility of a “black swan”-type event in the near future.

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But Kershaw and the rest of the Dodgers appreciated the significance of what could be a brilliant swan song to a magnificent career.

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Hunters will soon be allowed to kill mute swans as part of an effort to cull the “destructive, non-native” species statewide, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

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The city itself appears in street scenes and inserts of swan boats in the Public Garden, the Old North Church and Faneuil Hall.

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