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Added 9 October 2026

swim

/swɪm/ verb

In Latin: natō, nō Wiktionary

verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about swim at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

To move through the water, without touching the bottom; to propel oneself in water by natural means.
To become immersed in, or as if in, or flooded with, or as if with, a liquid.
swimming in self-pity
To move around freely because of excess space.

noun

An act or instance of swimming.
I'm going for a swim.
The sound, or air bladder, of a fish.
A part of a stream much frequented by fish.

noun

A dizziness; swoon.

verb

To be dizzy or vertiginous; have a giddy sensation; to have, or appear to have, a whirling motion.
My head was swimming after drinking two bottles of cheap wine.

Origin

From Middle English swymmen, from Old English swimman (“to swim, float”) (class III strong verb; past tense swamm, past participle geswummen), from Proto-West Germanic *swimman, from Proto-Germanic *swimmaną (“to swim”), from Proto-Indo-European *swem(bʰ)- (“to be unsteady, move, swim”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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