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• Swede
  Swede

  noun

  a native or inhabitant of Sweden.
• swede
  swede

  noun

  a Eurasian plant, Brassica napus (or B. napobrassica ), cultivated for its bulbous edible root, which is used as a vegetable and as cattle fodder: family Brassicaceae (crucifers)

Swede

American  

[sweed] / swid /

noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Sweden.

2. (lowercase) a rutabaga.

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swede ¹ British  

/ swiːd /

noun

1. a Eurasian plant, Brassica napus (or B. napobrassica ), cultivated for its bulbous edible root, which is used as a vegetable and as cattle fodder: family Brassicaceae (crucifers)

2. the root of this plant

3. a slang word for head

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Swede ² British  

/ swiːd /

noun

1. a native, citizen, or inhabitant of Sweden

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Etymology

Origin of Swede

1580–90; < Middle Dutch or Middle Low German; cognate with German Schwede; compare Old English Swēon (plural), Old Norse Svēar, Svīar, Medieval Latin Suiōnes

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Swede swede

Lundberg, a Swede who is now retired, quit a prominent job at AstraZeneca in London to take a position at Lilly’s headquarters in Indianapolis.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

Alexander Isak's record £125m move to Liverpool from Newcastle United became a nightmare of lost form and injuries in a disappointing campaign, with the Swede scoring only four goals in 22 appearances.

From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026

In came unknown Swede Kim Hellberg, and the humble ex-teacher steered Boro to the top of the Championship by February on the back of six straight wins with eye-catching football.

From BBC ● May 22, 2026

Her 108 wins all time leads the second-place skier, Swede Ingemar Stenmark, by a wide margin.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2026

All told, sixteen climbers summitted that day, including the Swede who’d ridden his bike to Nepal from Stockholm, Goran Kropp, and Ang Rita Sherpa, whose ascent marked his tenth visit to the top of Everest.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

In a two-year experiment, about 800 swede plants were grown over 10 generations on different soil types in a greenhouse.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 19, 2024

This is why the following vegetables, which belong to the brassica family, have different tastes: broccoli, cabbage, kale, swede, wasabi, horseradish, turnip, rocket, watercress, cauliflower and mustard.

From Salon ● Dec. 25, 2022

"We have a traditional Christmas dinner: turkey - although I don't like stuffing - potatoes, carrots and swede," he says.

From BBC ● Dec. 23, 2021

This is, perhaps, the reason that it’s sometimes called a Swedish turnip or simply a swede.

From The New Yorker ● Jan. 29, 2019

I am swede, in prime of like, in superb health, queite of habits, and can handle a ordinary house.

From The So-called Human Race by Bert Leston Taylor