Sweem

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. Moving through water by using the arms and legs, a dialect usage found in Scotland ; to lose consciousness briefly or feel dizzy, as a Scots regional expression
2. A Scottish dialect verb for propelling oneself across water by stroke ; a regional term for fainting or becoming dizzy and light-headed
3. Old Scots usage meaning to paddle or float through water ; a northern dialect expression for falling into a faint or feeling giddy

Etymology: Its roots go back to a Proto-Indo-European verb meaning "to move" or "to sway," which also lies behind a family of Germanic words for drifting and rocking motion. The Old English form, reconstructed as "swǣman" because no Old English text records it, became Middle English "swemen," which described floating or gliding smoothly. Scots preserved the idea in "sweem" and the variant "soom," used both for floating and for spinning at high speed. Icelandic "sveima" keeps a closely related sense: to float, hover, or wander. These cognates, separated by centuries and by the North Sea, show how one notion of gentle, unhurried movement split in different directions in each language.