Swift

//swɪft// adj, adv, name, noun

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Fast; quick; rapid.

    "swift action"

  2. 2
    Capable of moving at high speeds.
Adjective
  1. 1
    moving very fast wordnet
Adverb
  1. 1
    Swiftly. obsolete, poetic

    "Light boats sail swift, though greater hulks draw deep."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname transferred from the nickname, originally a nickname for a swift or quick person.
  2. 2
    Acronym of Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
  3. 3
    A general-purpose multi-paradigm compiled programming language introduced by Apple Inc. in 2014.

    "If anyone outside Apple saw Swift coming, they certainly weren't making any public predictions."

  4. 4
    Acronym of South Wales Integrated Fast transit. UK, abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
  5. 5
    Alternative letter-case form of SWIFT (“Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication”). alt-of

    "That year [2012], Iran was cut off from the Swift global payment system."

Show 8 more definitions
  1. 6
    Acronym of Southwest Airlines Integrated Flights Tracking. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
  2. 7
    A place name:; An unincorporated community in DuPage County, Illinois, United States.
  3. 8
    Acronym of Statewide Interlibrary loan Fast Track. US, abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
  4. 9
    A place name:; An unincorporated community in Roseau County, Minnesota, United States.
  5. 10
    Acronym of State Wildland Inmate Fire Team. US, abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
  6. 11
    A place name:; An extinct town in Pemiscot County, Missouri, United States.
  7. 12
    Acronym of Simple Web Interface Toolset. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
  8. 13
    A place name:; A minor river in Leicestershire and Warwickshire, England, which joins the (Warwickshire) Avon north of Rugby.
Noun
  1. 1
    A small plain-colored bird of the family Apodidae that resembles a swallow and is noted for its rapid flight.
  2. 2
    Acronym of Structured What If Technique. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
  3. 3
    common western lizard; seen on logs or rocks wordnet
  4. 4
    Any of certain lizards of the genus Sceloporus.

    "As a guide to start your collection we'd suggest either iguanas, tejus, swifts, basilisks, horned toads or alligator lizards."

  5. 5
    Acronym of Stored Waveform Inverse Fourier Transform. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
Show 7 more definitions
  1. 6
    a small bird that resembles a swallow and is noted for its rapid flight wordnet
  2. 7
    A moth of the family Hepialidae, swift moth, ghost moth.

    "Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them."

  3. 8
    Acronym of Stratospheric Wind Interferometer For Transport Studies. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
  4. 9
    Any of various fast-flying hesperiid butterflies.
  5. 10
    A light, collapsible reel used to hold a hank of yarn in order to wind off skeins or balls.
  6. 11
    The main cylinder of a carding-machine.
  7. 12
    The current of a stream. obsolete

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English swift, from Old English swift (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Germanic *swiftaz (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)weyp- (“to twist; wind around”). Cognate with Icelandic svipta (“to pull quickly”), Old English swīfan (“to revolve, sweep, wend, intervene”). More at swivel.

Etymology 2

From Middle English swift, from Old English swift (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Germanic *swiftaz (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)weyp- (“to twist; wind around”). Cognate with Icelandic svipta (“to pull quickly”), Old English swīfan (“to revolve, sweep, wend, intervene”). More at swivel.

Etymology 3

From Middle English swift, from Old English swift (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Germanic *swiftaz (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)weyp- (“to twist; wind around”). Cognate with Icelandic svipta (“to pull quickly”), Old English swīfan (“to revolve, sweep, wend, intervene”). More at swivel.

Next best steps

Mini challenge

Unscramble this word: swift