Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Quickly; speedily; promptly.
  • Strongly; very.
  • Interjectionally, quick! off! begone?
  • Strong: used only in the comparative swither, in the phrases swither hand, the right hand, swither half, the right side.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Strong; vehement.
  • adverb Quickly, speedily, promptly.
  • adverb Strongly; vehemently; very.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English, from Old English swīþ ("strong, mighty, powerful, active, severe, violent"), from Proto-Germanic *swinþaz (“strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *swento- (“active, healthy”). Cognate with Old Saxon swīth, Middle High German swind (Modern German geschwind ("fast, quick, swift")), Dutch gezwind ("fast, quick, swift"), Old Norse svinnr, Gothic 𐍃𐍅𐌹𐌽𐌸𐍃 (swinþs, "strong"). Related to sound.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English swith, swithe, from Old English swīþe ("very much, exceedingly, severely, violently, fiercely"), from Proto-Germanic *swinþa (“strongly”), from Proto-Indo-European *swento- (“active, healthy”).

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Examples

Comments

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  • swith - swither
    swither appears in the phrases below (on the page for swith), but not on the page for swither. Go figure.
    swither hand (right hand), swither half (right side)

    July 24, 2015