swan

¹ American  

[swon] / swɒn /

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 American  

[swon] / swɒn /

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 American  

[swon] / swɒn /

noun

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

---

swan ¹ British  

/ 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 British  

/ 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 British  

/ 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

Etymology

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

Example Sentences

Then someone had the idea to rent swan boats, at $12 each for the hour.

From The Wall Street Journal

He called the Eaton fire “a black swan event” — one of “low probability, but high consequence.”

From Los Angeles Times

Buffett’s epic posthumous hat tip to Munger is a poignant act from an extraordinary man, one that will forever be remembered as the swan song of a legend.

From Barron's

Two gold swans provide the base of a glass coffee table right in front of it.

From Los Angeles Times

In the words of one central-bank manager, he quoted, the precious metal is the “ultimate protection against black swan tail risk events”.

From MarketWatch