Swan - Definitions from Dictionary.com

17 results for: Swan

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

swan1

–noun

1.	any of several large, stately aquatic birds of the subfamily Anserinae, having a long, slender neck and usually pure-white plumage in the adult. Compare mute swan, trumpeter swan, whistling swan, whooper swan.

2.	a person or thing of unusual beauty, excellence, purity, or the like.

3.	Literary. a person who sings sweetly or a poet.

4.	(initial capital letter) Astronomy. the constellation Cygnus.

[Origin: bef. 900; ME, OE; c. G Schwan, ON svanr

]

—Related forms

swanlike, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Swan

To learn more about Swan visit Britannica.com

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

swan2

Audio Help [swon] Pronunciation Key

–verb (used without object)

Midland and Southern U.S. Older Use. to swear or declare (used with I): Well, I swan, I never expected to see you here!

[Origin: 1775–85, Americanism; prob. continuing dial. (N England) I s'wan, shortening of I shall warrant

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

Swan

Audio Help [swon] Pronunciation Key

–noun

Sir Joseph Wilson, 1828–1914, British chemist, electrical engineer, and inventor.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Cyg·nus Audio Help (sĭg'nəs) Pronunciation Key
n. A constellation in the Northern Hemisphere near Lacerta and Lyra, containing the star Deneb. Also called Northern Cross, Swan.

[Latin cygnus, swan; see cygnet.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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swan¹ Audio Help (swŏn) Pronunciation Key
n.

Any of various large aquatic birds of the family Anatidae chiefly of the genera Cygnus and Olor, having webbed feet, a long slender neck, and usually white plumage.
Swan See Cygnus.

intr.v. swanned, swan·ning, swans Chiefly British
To travel around from place to place: "Swanning around Europe nowadays, are we?" (Jeffrey Archer).

[Middle English, from Old English; see swen- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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swan² Audio Help (swŏn) Pronunciation Key
intr.v. Chiefly Southern U.S.
To declare; swear. Used in the phrase I swan as an interjection. See Regional Note at vum.

[Probably alteration of dialectal (I) s' warrant, (I) shall warrant.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
swan

O.E. swan, from P.Gmc. *swanaz (cf. O.S. swan, O.N. svanr, M.Du. swane, Du. zwaan, O.H.G. swan, Ger. Schwan), probably lit. "the singing bird," from PIE base *swon-/*swen- "to sing, make sound" (see sound (n.1)); thus related to O.E. geswin "melody, song" and swinsian "to make melody." In classical mythology, sacred to Apollo and to Venus. The singing of swans before death was alluded to by Chaucer (c.1374), but swan-song (1831) is a translation of Ger. Schwanengesang. A black swan was proverbial for "something extremely rare or non-existent" (1398), after Juvenal ["Sat." vi. 164]. Swan dive is recorded from 1898.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

swan
noun
1.	stately heavy-bodied aquatic bird with very long neck and usually white plumage as adult
verb
1.	to declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true; "Before God I swear I am innocent" [syn: affirm]
2.	move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment; "The gypsies roamed the woods"; "roving vagabonds"; "the wandering Jew"; "The cattle roam across the prairie"; "the laborers drift from one town to the next"; "They rolled from town to town"
3.	sweep majestically; "Airplanes were swanning over the mountains"

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
swan [swon] noun

a large, usually white, water-bird of the duck family, with a long graceful neck

Arabic:	تَم، أوَز عِراقي
Chinese (Simplified):	天鹅
Chinese (Traditional):	天鵝
Czech:	labuť
Danish:	svane
Dutch:	zwaan
Estonian:	luik
Finnish:	joutsen
French:	cygne
German:	der Schwan
Greek:	κύκνος
Hungarian:	hattyú
Icelandic:	svanur
Indonesian:	angsa
Italian:	cigno

Japanese:	白鳥
Korean:	백조
Latvian:	gulbis
Lithuanian:	gulbė
Norwegian:	svane
Polish:	łabędź
Portuguese (Brazil):	cisne
Portuguese (Portugal):	cisne
Romanian:	lebădă
Russian:	лебедь
Slovak:	labuť
Slovenian:	labod
Spanish:	cisne
Swedish:	svan
Turkish:	kuğu (kuşu)

See also: swan song

U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source - Share This

Swan Lake, MT Zip code(s): 59911

Swan Lake, NY Zip code(s): 12783

Swan River, MN Zip code(s): 55784

Swan Valley, ID (city, FIPS 79120) Location: 43.43977 N, 111.31505 W
Population (1990): 141 (90 housing units)
Area: 24.0 sq km (land), 0.1 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 83449

Swan, IA (city, FIPS 76665) Location: 41.46561 N, 93.30942 W
Population (1990): 76 (33 housing units)
Area: 1.7 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 50252

White Swan, WA (CDP, FIPS 78365) Location: 46.38824 N, 120.72083 W
Population (1990): 2669 (765 housing units)
Area: 268.5 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 98952

U.S. Gazetteer, U.S. Census Bureau

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Swan

Sound\, n. [OE. soun, OF. son, sun, F. son, fr. L. sonus akin to Skr. svana sound, svan to sound, and perh. to E. swan. Cf. Assonant, Consonant, Person, Sonata, Sonnet, Sonorous, Swan.]

1. The peceived object occasioned by the impulse or vibration of a material substance affecting the ear; a sensation or perception of the mind received through the ear, and produced by the impulse or vibration of the air or other medium with which the ear is in contact; the effect of an impression made on the organs of hearing by an impulse or vibration of the air caused by a collision of bodies, or by other means; noise; report; as, the sound of a drum; the sound of the human voice; a horrid sound; a charming sound; a sharp, high, or shrill sound.

The warlike sound Of trumpets loud and clarions. --Milton.

2. The occasion of sound; the impulse or vibration which would occasion sound to a percipient if present with unimpaired; hence, the theory of vibrations in elastic media such cause sound; as, a treatise on sound.

Note: In this sense, sounds are spoken of as audible and inaudible.

3. Noise without signification; empty noise; noise and nothing else.

Sense and not sound . . . must be the principle. --Locke.

Sound boarding, boards for holding pugging, placed in partitions of under floors in order to deaden sounds.

Sound bow, in a series of transverse sections of a bell, that segment against which the clapper strikes, being the part which is most efficacious in producing the sound. See Illust. of Bell.

Sound post. (Mus.) See Sounding post, under Sounding.

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SWAN

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