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definitions

swear

[swair]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR swear ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object), swore or (Archaic) sware; sworn; swear·ing.

verb (used with object), swore or (Archaic) sware; sworn; swear·ing.

Verb Phrases

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RELATED WORDS

assert, depose, vow, testify, affirm, cuss, curse, covenant, attest, avow, state, vouch, maintain, promise, plight, trust, warrant, imprecate, blaspheme, flame

Origin of swear

before 900; Middle English sweren, Old English swerian; cognate with German schwören, Old Norse sverja; akin to Gothic swaran to swear; see answer
Related formsswear·er, nounswear·ing·ly, adverbre·swear, verb, re·swore, re·sworn, re·swear·ing.un·der·swear·er, noun

Synonyms for swear

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR swear ON THESAURUS.COM
1. declare, affirm, avow. 3. depose, testify. 4. imprecate.

Synonym study

4. See curse.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for swear

Contemporary Examples of swear

Historical Examples of swear

  • He was then required to swear by all the gods, and by the dreaded Erinnys, that he had spoken truly.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • I've come to see you for two minutes; I swear I mean you no harm.

  • He tried to swear Edith and me to secrecy, but we refused to be sworn.

  • It don't do 'em any good, but just the same they all swear they're innocent.

    Within the Law

    Marvin Dana

  • Will you swear that the message that went with it had nothing to do with the Lenni-Lenape?'

    The Trail Book

    Mary Austin

British Dictionary definitions for swear

swear

verb swears, swearing, swore or sworn

to declare or affirm (a statement) as true, esp by invoking a deity, etc, as witness
(foll by by)
  1. to invoke (a deity, etc) by name as a witness or guarantee to an oath
  2. to trust implicitly; have complete confidence (in)
(intr often foll by at) to curse, blaspheme, or use swearwords
(when tr, may take a clause as object or an infinitive) to promise solemnly on oath; vow
(tr) to assert or affirm with great emphasis or earnestness
(intr) to give evidence or make any statement or solemn declaration on oath
to take an oath in order to add force or solemnity to (a statement or declaration)
swear blind informal to assert emphatically

noun

a period of swearing
Derived Formsswearer, noun

Word Origin for swear

Old English swerian; related to Old Norse sverja, Gothic swaran, Old Frisian swera, German schwören
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
Word Origin and History for swear
v.

Old English swerian "take an oath" (class VI strong verb; past tense swor, past participle sworen), from Proto-Germanic *swarjan-, (cf. Old Saxon swerian, Old Norse sverja, Danish sverge, Old Frisian swera, Middle Dutch swaren, Old High German swerien, German schwören, Gothic swaren "to swear"), from PIE root *swer- (1) "to speak, talk, say" (cf. Old Church Slavonic svara "quarrel"). Also related to the second element in answer. The secondary sense of "use bad language" (early 15c.) developed from the notion of "invoke sacred names." Swear-word is American English colloquial from 1883. Swear off "desist as with a vow" is from 1898.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper