Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A swimming of the head; a fainting-fit; a swoon.
- noun A sudden qualm of sickness.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun dialectal A
swimming of the head; afainting fit ; aswoon . - noun dialectal A
snell or suddenqualm ofsickness .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From Middle English sweem, sweme, swem ("a dizziness"), from Old Norse sveimr ("a bustle, stir"), from Proto-Germanic *swaimaz (“a moving to and fro, a sway”), from Proto-Indo-European *swey- (“to twist, 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.
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Examples
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