Swinden

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To gradually shrink, decline, or fade away until little or nothing remains of something
2. Describing the slow wasting or dwindling of a thing, such as strength, substance, or life, over time
3. Wasting away slowly, losing vigor or size until it has nearly vanished from view

Etymology: Swinden is an old English verb meaning to waste away slowly, and its roots are rural and literal. The Old English form "Suindene" combines "swīn", meaning swine or pig, with "denu", meaning valley. The name is a place-name in origin, and the same two elements survive in the town of Swindon, whose name points to a valley where pigs were kept or grazed. The leap from a pig-filled valley to a sense of wasting away is not spelled out in the sources, so the connection between the place and the verb remains unexplained. What is clear is that the word's earliest recorded form is the Old English one, which already combined the animal and the landscape feature before the verb's sense developed.