Overswum

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Crossed a body of water by swimming, or swam past a point or limit, going further than was intended
2. Moved through water across or beyond a given distance, travelling farther than a swimmer normally would
3. Went over a stretch of water by swimming, extending one's swim past the place or limit originally planned

Etymology: "Overswum" is the past participle of "overswim," a verb formed in English by joining the prefix "over-" to "swim." The prefix means "across" or "beyond" here, so to overswim something is to swim across or beyond it, much as one might overfly a country. Because "swim" is an ancient Germanic word and "over-" is a native English prefix, the pairing needs no borrowing from another language. The result is a transparent compound whose meaning can be read straight from its parts.