swamp
English
/swɒmp/, /swɑmp/
noun
Definitions
- A piece of wet, spongy land; low ground saturated with water; soft, wet ground which may have a growth of certain kinds of trees, but is unfit for agricultural or pastoral purposes.
- A type of wetland that stretches for vast distances, and is home to many creatures which have adapted specifically to that environment.
- (figurative) A place or situation that is foul or where progress is difficult.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English swam (bog, swamp, mushroom, muddy pool, marsh, also fungus) inherited from Old English swamm (mushroom, sponge, fungus) inherited from Middle English sompe (morass, marsh) derived from Middle Dutch somp derived from Middle Low German sump (marsh, swamp) derived from Old Saxon *sump (marsh, swamp) inherited from Proto-Germanic *sumpaz.
Origin
Proto-Germanic
*sumpaz
Gloss
Timeline
Distribution of cognates by language
Geogrpahic distribution of cognates
Cognates and derived terms
- back English
- backswamp English
- billy English
- hen English
- land English
- life English
- paleoswamp English
- sump English
- swampbilly English
- swamper English
- swamphen English
- swampily English
- swampiness English
- swampish English
- swampland English
- swampless English
- swamplife English
- swamplike English
- swampy English
- Meeresschwamm German
- Schwamm German
- Sumpf German
- schwammartig German
- schwammig German
- sumpfig German
- bederfzwam Dutch, Flemish
- buiszwam Dutch, Flemish
- gistzwam Dutch, Flemish
- slijmzwam Dutch, Flemish
- splijtzwam Dutch, Flemish
- vliegenzwam Dutch, Flemish
- zomp Dutch, Flemish
- zwam Dutch, Flemish
- zwamp Dutch, Flemish
- sump Norwegian Bokmål
- *sumpaz Proto-Germanic
- *sumslą Proto-Germanic
- *swammaz Proto-Germanic
- dvärgsumphöna Swedish
- karolinasumphöna Swedish
- mindre sumphöna Swedish
- småfläckig sumphöna Swedish
- sump Swedish
- sumpcypress Swedish
- sumpvipa Swedish
- svamp Swedish
- sump Norwegian Nynorsk
- feldswamm Old English
- meteswamm Old English
- swamm Old English
- sompe Middle English
- swam Middle English
- somp Middle Dutch
- swam Middle Dutch
- swamme Middle High German
- 𐍃𐍅𐌿𐌼𐍃𐌻 Gothic
- sump Middle Low German
- *sump Old Saxon
- svamper Old Swedish
- Sump Low German
- swampu Sranan Tongo