Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]

Jump to content

swearing

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
The printable version is no longer supported and may have rendering errors. Please update your browser bookmarks and please use the default browser print function instead.

English

Etymology

From Middle English sweryng; equivalent to swear +‎ -ing.

Pronunciation

  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛəɹɪŋ

Verb

swearing

  1. present participle and gerund of swear
    • 2013 June 14, Sam Leith, “Where the profound meets the profane”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 37:
      Swearing doesn't just mean what we now understand by "dirty words". It is entwined, in social and linguistic history, with the other sort of swearing: vows and oaths. Consider for a moment the origins of almost any word we have for bad language – "profanity", "curses", "oaths" and "swearing" itself.

Noun

swearing (countable and uncountable, plural swearings)

  1. The act of swearing, or making an oath.
    • 1693 (date written), D. F. [pseudonym; Daniel Defoe], An Essay upon Projects, London: [] R. R. for Tho[mas] Cockerill, [], published 1697, →OCLC:
      No man is believed a jot the more for all the asseverations, damnings, and swearings he makes.

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams