Sweam

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A swimming of the head; a fainting fit; a swoon. dialectal
  2. 2
    A sudden qualm of sickness. dialectal

Etymology

From Middle English sweem, sweme, swem (“a dizziness”), from Middle English swemen (“to feel faint, be overcome”), from Old English *swǣman (“to trouble, grieve”); and also from Old Norse sveimr (“a bustle, stir”), from Proto-Germanic *swaimaz (“a moving to and fro, a sway”), from Proto-Indo-European *sweh₁- (“to sway, swing”). Cognate with Old Norse svími (“dizziness, fainting”) (Danish svime (“a swoon”)), Dutch zwijm (“a swoon, fainting fit”), Old English swīma (“vertigo, dizziness, a swoon”). More at swim.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.