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:
before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with German Schwan, Old Norse svanr
before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with German Schwan, Old Norse svanr
Related forms
swan·like, adjective
00:10
Swan
is always a great word to know.
So is ort. Does it mean:
| a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare. |
| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To swan
Collins
World English Dictionary
swan (swɒn) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | any large aquatic bird of the genera Cygnus and Coscoroba, having a long neck and usually a white plumage: family Anatidae, order Anseriformes |
| 2. | rare, literary |
| a. a poet | |
| b. (capital when part of a title or epithet): the Swan of Avon | |
| —vb , swans, swanning, swanned | |
| 3. | informal (intr; |
| [Old English; related to Old Norse svanr, Middle Low German swōn] | |
| 'swanlike | |
| —adj | |
| Swan1 (swɒn) | |
| —n | |
| a river in SW Western Australia, rising as the Avon northeast of Narrogin and flowing northwest and west to the Indian Ocean below Perth. Length: about 240 km (150 miles) | |
| Swan2 (swɒn) | |
| —n | |
| Sir Joseph Wilson. 1828--1914, English physicist and chemist, who developed the incandescent electric light (1880) independently of Edison | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
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 (late 14c.), but swan-song (1831) is a translation of Ger. Schwanengesang. A black swan was proverbial for "something extremely rare or non-existent" (late 14c.), after Juvenal ["Sat." vi. 164]. Swan dive is recorded from 1898.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Easton
Bible Dictionary
Swan definition
mentioned in the list of unclean birds (Lev. 11:18; Deut. 14:16), is sometimes met with in the Jordan and the Sea of Galilee.
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Example sentences from the web
There is a swan boat circuit where the villages field teams compete.
Some postrenaissance writers liked to affect the sobriquet the swan of mantua.
This allows the species to be very successful in the swan, and other rivers.
The swan brewery continues to produce a range of emu branded beers.
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