▪ I. swanny, a.
(ˈswɒnɪ)
[f. swan n. + -y.]
1. Full of or abounding in swans.
| 1567 Golding Ovid's Met. vii. (1593) 163 The swannie Temp [orig. Cycneia Tempe] and Hyries poole he viewed from above. 1640 J. Gower Ovid's Festiv. iv. 87 Next Camarine with Swanny Tempe [orig. Heloria Tempe] fair. 1859 in Campbell Tales W. Highlands xvii. c. (1860) I. 291 From the loved swanny glen. |
2. Of or pertaining to, or resembling that of, a swan.
| 1598 F. Rous Thule T 3 b, But O my pen transforme thy swanny face, And in eternall streames my inck shall weepe. 1602 tr. Guarini's Pastor Fiao i. i. B 1 b, More purely white then swanny downe. 1604 Pricket Honors Fame (1881) 29 A Swanny whitenes. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) IV. v. 22 The swanny glossiness of a neck late so stately. 1829 W. Taylor Hist. Surv. Germ. Poetry II. 114 Girt in the swanny arms of fair Glycera. 1871 G. M. Hopkins Jrnls & Papers (1959) 207 Clouds..in burly-shouldered ridges swanny and lustrous. |
▪ II. swanny, v. U.S. slang.
[prob. north. Eng. dial. Is' wan ye lit. ‘I shall warrant you’.]
= swan v.2
| 1839 Salem Advertiser 18 Sept. 3/2 (Thornton) ‘Capt. Center, didn't I tell you Van Buren was not the man?’ ‘Yes you did, I swanney.’ 1844 ‘Jon. Slick’ High Life N. York II. 132, I swanny, it eenamost made me boo-hoo right out. |