▪ I. † swow, swough, n. Obs.
Forms: 3 swoȝ, 4 swouȝ, swoue, swouh, sogh, 4–5 swough(e, swogh(e, swow(e, 5 swowgh, swowȝe, sowe, 6 Sc. swoch.
[app. arising from the analysis of aswough, aswow as = a swough, a swow: cf. swow pa. pple. and v.1]
1. A swoon.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 484 Til he fel dun on dedes swoȝ. 13.. Sir Beues (A.) 1563 Whan he awakede of þat swouȝ, Þe tronsoun eft to him a drouȝ. c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 215 What she said more in þat swow I mai nat telle ȝow as now. a 1400 Leg. Rood (1871) 135 His flesch is smite wiþ deþes þarmes, And swelteþ heer in a swemly swouh [c 1425 swow]. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3551 He..felle to þe ground In a swyme & a swogh, as he swelt wold. 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 14 Whan of his swow As a man amasyd he sodeynly dede abreyde. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xv. 68 As I lay in a swogh. |
b. phr. to fall on, in swough: to swoon. (Cf. next.)
| 13.. Sir Beues (A.) 1309 Terri fel þer doun and [?= an] swouȝ. c 1350 Will. Palerne 87 Reuliche gan he rore..& fel doun on swowe. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 4376 And thei of Troye bakward drowe; And many fel ded In sowe. c 1440 J. Capgrave Life St. Kath. iii. 1214 Wyth þese swete wordes sche fel in swow. a 1450 Le Morte Arth. 1634 Than was the quene glad I-noghe Whan she saw launcelot du lake, That nyghe for Ioy she felle in swoughe. |
2. A state of sleep or trance.
| c 1403 Clanvowe Cuckow & Night. 87, I fel in suche a slomber and a swow, Not al a-slepe, ne fully wakinge. c 1440 J. Capgrave Life St. Kath. iii. 649 Whan þat same Adam slepte in a swow, Oure lord oute of his syde þan made Eue. 1513 Douglas æneis viii. i. 62 The profund swoch of sleip had thaim ourtayne. |
▪ II. † swow, swown, pa. pple. Obs.
Forms: α. 1 ᵹeswoᵹen, 3 iswoȝe(n, 3–4 iswowe(n, ysown, swoune, 5 suoun. β. 3 isuowe, isuoȝe, 3–4 yswowe, yswoȝe, 4 isowe, ysow(e, ysowȝ, swowe, swoghe.
[OE. ᵹeswoᵹen. Cf. aswoon, aswough, aswowe.]
Fainting, in a swoon: orig. and chiefly in predicative use with fall.
| c 1000 ælfric Saints' Lives xii. 63 [He] began to etenne; he feoll þa æt ðære forman snæde underbecc ᵹeswoᵹen. c 1000 ― Hom. II. 356 Se læᵹ..ᵹeswoᵹen betwux ðam ofsleᵹenum. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 196 Þæt hie syn sona ᵹeswoᵹene ᵹif hie þone mete næbben. c 1205 Lay. 3074 Mid þære wræððe he wes isweued þat he feol iswowen [c 1275 hi-swoȝe]. Ibid. 4516 Stille he wes iswoȝen [c 1275 iswoȝe] on his kine-stole. c 1290 St. Clement 173 in S. Eng. Leg. 327 Þis womman feol a-don i-swowe. 13.. Sir Beues (A.) 446 Þat emperur fel swowe adoun [MS. C. yn swowne downe]. 1362 Langl. P.Pl. A. v. 222 Sleuþe for serwe fel doun I-swowene. a 1375 Joseph Arim. 583 Whon Eualac þat sauȝ, he fel to þe grounde, And Seraphe also, and boþe lye swoune. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 2497 For hungre þai fulle y-sowe. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 477 Þe kyng was astonyed, and fil doun to þe grounde as þeyȝ he were i-sowe [MS. β. a swowe; MS. γ. y-swowe]. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 357 Mi dedly face pale and fade Becam, and swoune I fell to grounde. 1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. lxxiii, I..lent, amaisit verily, Half sleping and half suoun. |
b. as ppl. a. ? ‘Dead’ (silence).
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 243 Al stouned at his steuen..In a swoghe sylence..As al were slypped vpon slepe. |
▪ III. † swow, v.1 Obs.
[f. prec.]
intr. To swoon, faint.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 288 Þe heorte..ȝeieð creaunt, creaunt, ase swowinde. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 442 Þer he swowed & slept sadly al nyȝt. 1377 Langl. P.Pl. B. v. 154 Hir were leuere swowe or swelte þan suffre any peyne. |
▪ IV. swow, v.2 U.S. colloq.
(swaʊ)
[I swow app. = Is' vow (I shall vow); cf. swan v.2]
I swow, I declare; = swan v.2
| [1790 Mass. Spy 30 Dec. 1/1 In one village you will hear the phrase ‘I snore,’—in another, ‘I swowgar,’—and in another, ‘I van you, I wunt do it.’] 1844 ‘Jonathan Slick’ High Life N. York I. 104, I swow, Miss Miles, you look as harnsome as a full blown rose this morning. 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 595, I swan, I swad, I swow, I swamp, and I vum, for I swear, and I vow. |
▪ V. swow(e, swowȝ(e, swowgh(e, swowh
see sough, swough.