Unnumbered source etymology · variant 1/2
Original entry ↗An area of wet (water-saturated), spongy (soft) land, often with trees, generally a rich ecosystem for certain plants and animals but ill-suited for many agricultural purposes. (A type of wetland. Compare marsh, bog, fen.) · A place or situation that is foul or where progress is difficult. · The alleged corruption, cronyism, inefficiency, and entrenched interests in the federal government, especially in Washington, DC.
Early attestations (starting in 1624) are from North America, but the term was probably in local use in Britain earlier. The etymology is not entirely certain; it is probably a fusion of Middle English swam (“swamp, muddy pool, bog, marsh”, also “fungus, mushroom”) — from Old English swamm (“mushroom, fungus, sponge”), from Proto-West Germanic *swamm, from Proto-Germanic *swambaz, *swammaz — and Middle English sompe (“marsh, morass”), from either Middle Dutch somp, sump (“marsh, swamp”) or Middle Low German sump (“marsh, swamp”) (from Old Saxon *sump (“swamp, marsh”)), both from Proto-West Germanic *sump, from Proto-Germanic *sumpaz. *Swambaz, *swammaz and *sumpaz are likely related to each other, but it is unclear whether they are of Indo-European origin or are substrate words or wanderworts. The word has alternatively been suggested to be a borrowing from Dutch zwamp (“swamp, marsh, fen”). Other cognates include Middle Low German swamp (“sponge, mushroom”), Dutch zomp (“swamp, lake, marshy place”), German Low German Sump (“swamp, bog, marsh”), German Sumpf (“swamp”), Swedish sump (“swamp”). Related also to Dutch zwam (“fungus, punk, tinder”), German Schwamm (“mushroom, fungus, sponge”), Swedish svamp (“mushroom, fungus, sponge”), Icelandic svampur, sveppur (“fungus”), Gothic 𐍃𐍅𐌿𐌼𐍃𐌻 (swumsl, “a ditch”). Related to sump, swim.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Inherited-form mentionswamenm · swamp, muddy pool, bog, marsh”, also “fungus, mushroom
- Inherited-form mentionswammang · mushroom, fungus, sponge
- Inherited-form mention*swammgmw-pro
- Inherited-form mention*swammazgem-pro
- Inherited-form mentionsompeenm · marsh, morass
- Derivation mentionsompdum
- Derivation mentionsumpgml · marsh, swamp
- Derivation mention*sumposx · swamp, marsh
- Inherited-form mention*sumpgmw-pro
- Inherited-form mention*sumpazgem-pro
- Cognate mentionzwampnl · swamp, marsh, fen
- Cognate mentionswampgml · sponge, mushroom
- Cognate mentionzompnl · swamp, lake, marshy place
- Cognate mentionSumpfde · swamp
- Cognate mentionsumpsv · swamp
- Cognate mentionzwamnl · fungus, punk, tinder
- Cognate mentionSchwammde · mushroom, fungus, sponge
- Cognate mentionsvampsv · mushroom, fungus, sponge
- Cognate mentionsvampuris
- Cognate mention𐍃𐍅𐌿𐌼𐍃𐌻got · a ditch
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "swam",
"t": "swamp, muddy pool, bog, marsh”, also “fungus, mushroom"
},
"expansion": "Middle English swam (“swamp, muddy pool, bog, marsh”, also “fungus, mushroom”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "swamm",
"t": "mushroom, fungus, sponge"
},
"expansion": "Old English swamm (“mushroom, fungus, sponge”)"
},
{
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},
{
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"4": "*swambaz, *swammaz"
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},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "sompe",
"t": "marsh, morass"
},
"expansion": "Middle English sompe (“marsh, morass”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "dum",
"3": "somp"
},
"expansion": "Middle Dutch somp"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gml",
"3": "sump",
"t": "marsh, swamp"
},
"expansion": "Middle Low German sump (“marsh, swamp”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "osx",
"3": "*sump",
"t": "swamp, marsh"
},
"expansion": "Old Saxon *sump (“swamp, marsh”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gmw-pro",
"3": "*sump"
},
"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *sump"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*sumpaz"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *sumpaz"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "zwamp",
"t": "swamp, marsh, fen"
},
"expansion": "Dutch zwamp (“swamp, marsh, fen”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "gml",
"2": "swamp",
"t": "sponge, mushroom"
},
"expansion": "Middle Low German swamp (“sponge, mushroom”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "zomp",
"t": "swamp, lake, marshy place"
},
"expansion": "Dutch zomp (“swamp, lake, marshy place”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nds-de",
"2": "Sump",
"t": "swamp, bog,\nmarsh"
},
"expansion": "German Low German Sump (“swamp, bog, marsh”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "Sumpf",
"t": "swamp"
},
"expansion": "German Sumpf (“swamp”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sv",
"2": "sump",
"t": "swamp"
},
"expansion": "Swedish sump (“swamp”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "zwam",
"t": "fungus, punk, tinder"
},
"expansion": "Dutch zwam (“fungus, punk, tinder”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "Schwamm",
"t": "mushroom, fungus, sponge"
},
"expansion": "German Schwamm (“mushroom, fungus, sponge”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sv",
"2": "svamp",
"t": "mushroom, fungus, sponge"
},
"expansion": "Swedish svamp (“mushroom, fungus, sponge”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "is",
"2": "svampur"
},
"expansion": "Icelandic svampur"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "got",
"2": "𐍃𐍅𐌿𐌼𐍃𐌻",
"t": "a ditch"
},
"expansion": "Gothic 𐍃𐍅𐌿𐌼𐍃𐌻 (swumsl, “a ditch”)"
}
],
"links": [
[
"swam",
"swam#Middle_English"
],
[
"swamm",
"swamm#Old_English"
],
[
"*swamm",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/swamm"
],
[
"*swambaz, *swammaz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/swammaz"
],
[
"sompe",
"sompe#Middle_English"
],
[
"somp",
"somp#Middle_Dutch"
],
[
"sump",
"sump#Middle_Dutch"
],
[
"sump",
"sump#Middle_Low_German"
],
[
"*sump",
"Reconstruction:Old Saxon/sump"
],
[
"*sump",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/sump"
],
[
"*sumpaz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/sumpaz"
],
[
"zwamp",
"zwamp#Dutch"
],
[
"swamp",
"swamp#Middle_Low_German"
],
[
"zomp",
"zomp#Dutch"
],
[
"Sump",
"Sump#Low_German"
],
[
"Sumpf",
"Sumpf#German"
],
[
"sump",
"sump#Swedish"
],
[
"zwam",
"zwam#Dutch"
],
[
"Schwamm",
"Schwamm#German"
],
[
"svamp",
"svamp#Swedish"
],
[
"svampur",
"svampur#Icelandic"
],
[
"sveppur",
"sveppur#Icelandic"
],
[
"𐍃𐍅𐌿𐌼𐍃𐌻",
"𐍃𐍅𐌿𐌼𐍃𐌻#Gothic"
],
[
"sump",
"sump#English"
],
[
"swim",
"swim#English"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "Sranan Tongo",
"lang_code": "srn",
"word": "swampu",
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "Aukan",
"lang_code": "djk",
"word": "swampu"
},
{
"lang": "Saramaccan",
"lang_code": "srm",
"word": "sũã́pu"
},
{
"lang": "Caribbean Hindustani",
"lang_code": "hns",
"word": "sampu",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
}
]
},
{
"lang": "Dutch",
"lang_code": "nl",
"word": "zwamp",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
}
],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"An area of wet (water-saturated), spongy (soft) land, often with trees, generally a rich ecosystem for certain plants and animals but ill-suited for many agricultural purposes. (A type of wetland. Compare marsh, bog, fen.)",
"A place or situation that is foul or where progress is difficult.",
"The alleged corruption, cronyism, inefficiency, and entrenched interests in the federal government, especially in Washington, DC."
],
"tags": [
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"US"
],
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