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Schwert. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
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Schwert in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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German
Etymology
From Middle High German swert, from Old High German swert (attested since the 8th century); from Proto-West Germanic *swerd, from Proto-Germanic *swerdą, from Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“to fester, to cut”).
Germanic cognates with identical meaning include Hunsrik Schweert, Low German Sweerd, Dutch zwaard, Afrikaans swaard, English sword, West Frisian swurd, Danish sværd, Norwegian sverd, Swedish svärd, Icelandic sverð, Faroese svørð.
The further etymology outside the Germanic branch is currently unknown. *swerdą, swerða- seems to be a nominal derivative with dental suffix originating from Indo-European *swer- and may, thus, be a cognate to German schwären (“to fester”).
Pronunciation
Noun
Schwert n (strong, genitive Schwertes or Schwerts, plural Schwerter)
- sword
Er zückte augenblicklich sein Schwert.- He drew his sword immediately.
Das Katana war ein weit verbreitetes Schwert in Japan.- The katana was a very common sword in Japan.
- Breitschwert ― broadsword
- Langschwert ― longsword
- blade (of a chainsaw etc.)
- Synonyms: Blatt n, Klinge f
- dorsal fin (of certain kinds of whales)
- Synonym: Rückenflosse f
- Schwertwal ― orca
- (heraldry) sword
Declension
Derived terms
References
Further reading
- “Schwert” in Duden online
- “Schwert” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache