Sweal

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To set something alight or scorch it slowly with heat ; to soften and gradually lose substance through melting or wasting away
2. To singe or char a surface with fire ; to dwindle away as candles or wax do when exposed to warmth
3. Burning something gently until it chars ; wasting away or melting gradually under the influence of heat

Etymology: To sweal is an old verb meaning to burn slowly, to smoulder, or to be consumed by a slow, smouldering heat. Its sense has been less stable than its look suggests: the same Germanic root that produced the Old English verb also gave a Proto-Germanic sense of "to create a burningly cold sensation," and Icelandic has kept that opposite direction in "svala," meaning "to cool." Heat and cold meeting in one root is the kind of reversal that makes the word worth a second look. The English line runs through Old English "swelan" and "swǣlan," both meaning "to burn," which descend from a Proto-Germanic verb built on a Proto-Indo-European root for shining and warming. Middle English kept the form as "swelen." Its relatives survive across the Germanic languages: Dutch "zwelen," German "schwelen," and Low German "swelen" all still mean to smoulder. Sweal is closely related to swelter, which shares the same root and carries the sense of oppressive, sweltering heat. The two words stayed together in English while sweal itself faded from everyday use.

Synonyms: melt, singe

Antonyms: freeze, cool