▪ I. swan, n.
(swɒn)
Forms: 1– swan; also 1 swann, swon, suon, 1, 4 suan, 4–5 swane, 4–7 swanne, 6 swonne.
[Com. Teut. (not recorded for Gothic): OE. swan, swǫn str. m. = OFris. *swon (EFris. swon, NFris., WFris. swaan), OS. suan, MLG. swan, swâne str. and wk. m., swôn str. m., (LG. swaan), MDu. swâne (Du. zwaan), OHG. *swan, swon str. m., swana wk. f. (MHG. swane, swan wk. m., G. schwan str. m., dial. schwane, schwone f.), ON. svanr (poet.) str. m. (Norw. svon m., svana f., Da. svane m. f., MSw., Sw. svan m.):—OTeut. *swanaz str. m., *swanon- wk. m., or *swanôn- wk. f.
The name was app. applied orig. to the ‘musical’ swan, having the form of an agent-noun f. Teut. swan-:—Idg. swon-: swen-, represented by Skr. svánati (it) sounds, L. sonit (it) sounds, (sonĕre, later sonāre), Ir. sennaim I make music, OE. ᵹeswin melody, song, swinsian to make melody.]
1. a. A large web-footed swimming bird of the genus Cygnus or subfamily Cygninæ of the family Anatidæ, characterized by a long and gracefully curved neck and a majestic motion when swimming; esp. C. olor, gibbus, or mansuetus, with pure white plumage in the adult, black legs and feet, and a red bill surmounted by a black knob, named specifically the Domestic, Mute, or Tame Swan.
Other important species are Bewick's swan, Cygnus (Olor) bewicki; black swan, Chenopsis atratus of Australia, with plumage almost entirely black; black-necked swan, Cygnus (Sthenelides) nigricollis or melanocoryphus, with black head and neck, and the rest of the plumage pure white; trumpeter swan, Cygnus (Olor) buccinator, of N. America (see trumpeter 7); whistling swan, (a) of Europe, C. (O.) musicus or ferus, also called Wild Swan, † Elk, or Whooper; (b) of N. America, C. (O.) americanus or columbianus.
Swans' quills were used for feathering arrows; hence † arrows of swan.
| c 700 Epinal Gloss. (O.E.T.) 700 Olor, suan. a 1000 Phoenix 137 (Gr.) Ne hornas..ne organan, sweᵹleoþres ᵹeswin ne swanes feðre. c 1050 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 459/22 Olor, swon, ilfetu, swan. c 1300 Havelok 1726 Biforn hem com þe beste mete Þat king or cayser wolde ete; Kranes, swannes, ueneysun. c 1340 Nominale (Skeat) 838 Cyne recifle, swan tissith. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 206 A fat swan loued he best of any roost. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xii. xi[i]. (Tollem. MS.) Schipmen troweþ, þat it bodeþ good, yf þey meteþ swannes in peryl of schipbreche. Ibid. (Bodl. MS.), Þe swanne putteþ doune his heed into þe water and secheþ his mete. 1451 Lincoln Diocese Documents 57, I wil my nevew Robert constabull haf Al my qwhite Swannes. 1459 Paston Lett. I. 482, viij. schefe arrowys of swanne. 1552 Huloet, Swanne, cygnus..some take this to be the elke, or wilde swanne. 1552–3 in Feuillerat Revels Edw. VI (1914) 138 Pennes of swannes quylles. 1564 Proclam. Q. Eliz. Conserv. Swans, It is ordeyned, that no man shal take no gray swannes nor white swannes flying. 1593 in Kempe Losely MSS. (1836) 308 All straie swans, all swans unmarked, all wild swans, all tame swans that fly, all swans of felons..are the master of the swans right. 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 438 The Swan with Arched neck Between her white wings mantling proudly, Rowes Her state with Oarie feet. 1674 Ray Collect. Words 95 The Elk, Hooper, or wild Swan: Cygnus ferus, this bird is specifically distinct from the tame Swan. 1698 Witsen in Phil. Trans. XX. 361 Black Swans, Parrots and many Sea-Cows were found there [sc. in Hollandia Nova]. 1717 Prior Alma i. 379 If You Dine with my Lord May'r, Roast-Beef, and Ven'son is your Fare; Thence You proceed to Swan and Bustard. 1785 Pennant Arctic Zool. II. 542 The Whistling Swan carries its neck quite erect. Ibid. 544 The Mute Swan, or that which we call Tame, is found in a wild state in some parts of Russia. 1785 Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds VI. 438 Black-necked Swan... The plumage the same with the other Swan, except that the neck is of a velvet black. 1789 Gov. Phillip Voy. Botany Bay xi. 98 A black swan..is here by no means uncommon, being found on most of the lakes. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles iv. x, So shoots through the morning sky the lark, Or the swan through the summer sea. 1830 Yarrell in Trans. Linnean Soc. XVI. 453 Side view of the sternum and trachea of Bewick's Swan. 1860 Tennyson Tithonus 4 And after many a summer dies the swan. |
b. In classical mythology, the swan was sacred to Apollo (hence
Apollo's swan is used allusively) and to Venus (
occas., as by Shakespeare, wrongly ascribed to Juno).
| 1592 Soliman & Pers. iv. i. 70 But what two Christian Virgins haue we here?.. I should haue deemd them Iunoes goodly Swannes, Or Venus milke white Doues. 1593 G. Harvey New Letter Wks. (Grosart) I. 277 The brauest man is..A Lion in the field, a Lamme in the towne: A Ioues Eagle in feude, an Apollos Swanne in society. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. i. iii. 77 Like Iunos Swans, Still we went coupled and inseperable. |
2. fig. or
allusively.
a. Applied to persons or things, in reference to the pure white plumage of the swan taken as a type of faultlessness or excellence; often in contrast to
crow or
goose.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 17371 (Cott.) His clething als þe suan his suire. c 1386 Chaucer Sompn. T. 222 Me thynketh they been lyk Iovinyan Fat as a whale, and walkynge as a swan. ― Manciple's T. 29 Whit was this Crowe, as a snow whit swan. 14.. Sir Beues (Pynson) 2308 The bysshop crystened Iosian, That was as whyte as any swan. 1457 Harding Chron. in Eng. Hist. Rev. Oct. (1912) 745 Iustyse of pese thay bene, as I deme can, As now on days men call the blacke oxe swan. 1589, 1621 [see goose n. 1 d]. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. ii. 92 Compare her face with some that I shall show, And I will make thee thinke thy Swan a Crow. a 1617 Hieron Doctrines Triall Wks. 1620 II. 16 Though multitudes of good points of Doctrine..fall from vs, as water from a Swannes backe. 1679 M. Prance Addit. Narr. Pop. Plot 15 Thus the Accused are all Swans, and the blackness of Guilt is thrown upon the Witnesses for the King. 1858 Eclectic Rev. Ser. vi. III. 426 Now it is East, one of the author's white swans..who is guilty of the act of malice we denounce. 1876 Longfellow Venice 1 White swan of cities, slumbering in thy nest. 1884 [see goose n. 1 d]. 1912 Lady F. Balfour Life & Lett. of Jas. MacGregor xvi. 509 The assistants were to him all ‘swans’ as soon as they were connected with him or his church. |
b. In allusions to the fabulous belief that the swan sings immediately or shortly before its death.
| c 1374 Chaucer Anel. & Arc. 346 Þe swane..Ageynist his dethe shall synge his penavnse. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxiv. 511 What eileth now that vnhappy folke that make soo grete feest, I byleve that they ben as the swanne is when he shall deye. 1601 Shakes. Phœnix & Turtle 15 Let the priest in surples white, That defunctive musicke can, Be the death-devining swan. 1604 ― Oth. v. ii. 247, I will play the Swan, And dye in Musicke. 1621 Middleton Sun in Aries Wks. (Bullen) VII. 348 Illustrated by proper emblems..as.. Harmony by a swan. a 1718 Prior 2nd Hymn Callimachus 8 And hov'ring Swans, their Throats releas'd From native Silence, Carol Sounds harmonious. 1842 Tennyson Morte D'Arthur 266 Like some full-breasted swan..fluting a wild carol ere her death. |
c. Hence used for: A ‘singer’, bard,
poet. Chiefly in specific designations derived from river-names,
cf. the Swan of Avon (
Avon's Swan)
= Shakespeare. Also,
the Mantuan Swan = Virgil.
Cf. L.
cycnus (Horace has
Dircæus cycnus = Pindar),
Gr. κύκνος (Anthol. Pal. vii. 19, of Alcman).
| 1612 C. Brooke Elegy Pr. Henry ix, Yee Isis swannes then, let not Lethe's fowles Prophane his name; but may this prince's glory..Be sung of you in a Mineruall story. 1623 B. Jonson in Shaks. Wks. (1st Fol.), Sweet Swan of Auon! what a sight it were To see thee in our waters yet appeare, And make those flights vpon the bankes of Thames. 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. (1692) II. 292 William D'Avenant..whom we..may justly stile the sweet Swan of Isis. 1728 Pope Dunc. iii. 20 Taylor,..(Once swan of Thames, tho' now he sings no more). [Cf. ibid. iii. 155 Each Cygnet sweet, of Bath and Tunbridge race, Whose tuneful whistling makes the waters pass.] 1767 Mickle Concub. xvi, Avons Swan of peerlesse Memorie. 1781 Cowper Table-T. 557 Ages elaps'd ere Homer's lamp appear'd, And ages ere the Mantuan swan was heard. 1895 G. B. Shaw Our Theatres in Nineties (1932) I. 197 Everyone concerned..is full of earnest belief that the splendor of the Swan will be revealed at last, like the Holy Grail. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 186 Shakespeare..does not stay to feed the pen chivying her game of cygnets towards the rushes. The swan of Avon has other thoughts. |
d. black swan: a proverbial phrase (after Juvenal
Sat. vi. 164) for something extremely rare (or non-existent); a rarity,
rara avis.
| [1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xii. xii. (Bodl. MS.) lf. 120/1 The swanne hatte signus in latine and Olor in grewe, for he is al white in feþeres. for no man findeþ a blacke swanne. 1576 Bedingfield tr. Cardanus' Comf. 4 What man is so mad as wil say the swan is black?] 1579 Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 30 The abuse of such places [sc. theatres] was so great, that for any chaste liuer to haunt them was a black swan, and a white crowe. 1606 Day Ile of Guls (1881) 54 The rare..Mopsa, the black swan of beauty & madghowlet of admiration. 1694 N. H. Ladies Dict. 192/1 (bis) Husbands without faults (if such black Swans there be). 1764 Wesley Jrnl. 2 Oct., I breakfasted..with Mr. B―, a black swan, an honest lawyer! 1890 W. E. Norris Misadventure ix, He may not be such a black swan as Aunt Susan makes him out. |
e. [
f. swan v.
1 2.] An apparently aimless journey; an excursion made for reconnaissance or for pleasure.
slang (
orig. Mil.).
| 1946 Visct. Montgomery El Alamein 45 A recurrence of what was then becoming known in the Eighth Army as the ‘annual swan’ between Egypt and El Agheila. 1958 Spectator 23 May 665/2 The General.., yielding to a very natural temptation to go for a ‘swan’ early in the battle, was away from his headquarters for over thirty-six hours. 1960 C. Achebe No Longer at Ease xvii. 153 But for an African like you, who has too many privileges as it is, to ask for two weeks to go on a swan, it makes me want to cry. 1968 Listener 22 Feb. 238/1 It [sc. a festival] has become an accepted ‘swan’ for the British correspondents. 1974 D. Hart-Davis Peter Fleming iv. 75 The trip as a whole was designed to be what he later called a ‘swan’—a general look round. 1979 D. Clark Heberden's Seat vii. 150 ‘Reed and I may have to go to London for the day.’.. ‘It's not just a swan is it?’ |
3. a. A figure of a swan, as in heraldry.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 58 Wyth scheldez of wylde swyn, swanez & cronez. a 1400 Octouian 1481 Har armes wer gowles and swan, Trappure and scheld. a 1490 Botoner Itin. (Nasmith, 1778) 217 Venella apud signum le swan. 1581 G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. ii. (1586) 108 b, Whereas that hath a flying swan,..this hath besides the shadow of the same swan. 1627 Peacham Compl. Gentl. xiii. 184 Three Roses Argent betweene as many Swans proper. |
b. Astron. The northern constellation
Cygnus.
| 1551 Recorde Cast. Knowl. (1556) 264 By it [sc. Lyra] is the Swanne, named Cygnus. 1606 N. B[axter] Sydney's Ourania D 4, The siluered Swan that dying sweetly sings, Adorn's with twelue starres her beautifull wings. 1670 Phil. Trans. V. 2023 The New Star near the Beak of the Swan. 1868 Lockyer Guillemin's Heavens 328. |
† c. plumed swan: a colour in alchemy.
Obs.| 1610 B. Jonson Alch. ii. ii, Your seuerall colours..Of..the crow, The peacocks taile, the plumed swan. |
4. a. attrib. and
Comb.: simple
attrib., as
swan-bevy,
swan comb (
fig.),
swan feast,
swan-feather,
swan-flesh,
swan-flight,
swan-meat,
swan-pie,
swan-plumage;
swan-fashion adv.; objective, as
swan-feeder (
attrib.),
swan-hunting,
swan-shooting;
swan-delighting,
swan-eating adjs.; instrumental, etc. as
swan-clad,
swan-drawn,
swan-instructed,
swan-poor,
swan-proud adjs.; similative and parasynthetic, as
swan-bosomed,
swan-breasted,
swan-bright,
swan-feathered,
swan-fledged,
swan-plumed,
swan-soft,
swan-sweet,
swan-tuned,
swan-winged adjs.| 1897 H. N. Howard Footsteps Proserpine 111 A wench..*Swan-bosomed. |
| 1930 R. Campbell Adamastor 73 The great *swan-breasted seraphs soar and sing. |
| 1923 E. Sitwell Bucolic Comedies 35 The *swan-bright fountains. |
| 1646 G. Daniel Poems Wks. (Grosart) I. 27 Swift Arne, the Thuscan Soile, noe more shall beat, Nor *Swan-clad Po run Sweet. |
| 1922 *Swancomb [see high-reared s.v. high adv. 10 a]. |
| 1936 Auden Look, Stranger! 41 The *swan-delighting river. |
| 1812 W. Tennant Anster F. i. 3 The *swan-drawn car. |
| 1641 Milton Reform. i. Wks. 1851 III. 18 His canary-sucking and *swan-eating palat. |
| 1849 D. J. Browne Amer. Poultry Yd. (1855) 242 They would probably please most palates better, if cooked and served *swan fashion. |
| Ibid. 250 The ‘*swan feasts’, which sometimes have occurred in England,..have been solemnised in the course of the month of September. |
| c 1465 Chevy Chase 96 Þe *swane fethars þat his arrowe bar with his hart blood þe wear wete. |
| 1953 R. Graves Poems 17 Past either cheek *Swan-feathered arrows whistle. |
| 1557 N. Grimalde in Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 117 *Swan-feeder Temms no furder course can passe. |
| 1862 G. M. Hopkins Vision of Mermaids (1929), And shake From wings *swan-fledged a wheel of watery light. |
| 1557 Edgeworth Serm. 91 They were forbidden..*swanne flesh. |
| 1959 E. Pound Thrones xcviii. 38 The King's job, vast as the *swan-flight. |
| 1708 Lond. Gaz. No. 4463/2 The King left Yagersburg on Wednesday last, in order to take the Diversion of *Swan-Hunting. 1870 Gillmore tr. Figuier's Reptiles & Birds 254 Swan-hunting takes place during the season of moulting. |
| 1942 S. Smith Magic Morning in Coll. Poems (1975) 206 ‘Charley, Charley, Charley’ cry the *swan-instructed curlews. |
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 151 Wonder what kind is *swanmeat. |
| 1640 J. D. Knave in Graine iii. i. H j b, Wast not an excellent *Swan⁓pie? 1679 R. Montagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 331 My wife gives your Lordship her humble thanks for the swan pie. |
| 1953 E. Sitwell Gardeners & Astronomers 37 And Cygnus who gave you all his bright *swan-plumage. |
| 1600 Tourneur Transf. Metam. Epil. 9 *Swan-plum'd Phœbe [= the moon] gards the star-faire night. |
| 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. iv. 364 While tow'rd the Sea, our (then *Swan-poorer) Thames Bare down my Bark upon her ebbing streams. |
| a 1618 ― Sonnets vii. 9 Sweet Petrarch's Po, and *swan-proud Sein. |
| 1874 J. W. Long Amer. Wild-fowl iii. 71 An excellent decoy for *swan-shooting..is an old white shirt drawn over a bunch of brush. |
| 1596 C. Fitzgeffrey Sir F. Drake (1881) 7 Then let thy *swan-sweet voice sing to a Drake. |
| 1604 Scoloker Daiphantus (1880) 23 Daiphantus hearing such a *Swan-tun'd voyce, Was rauisht. |
| 1798 W. Sotheby tr. Weiland's Oberon (1826) II. 215 Through the air the *swan-wing'd chariot flew. |
| 1925 E. Sitwell Troy Park 12 In the thick *swan-soft fields. |
b. Special
Combs.:
swan-animalcule, an infusorian of either of the families
Trachelocercidæ and
Tracheliidæ,
esp. Trachelocerca olor, having a long flexible and extensible anterior prolongation like a swan's neck;
swan dive U.S., a swallow dive (see
swallow n.1 4); hence
swan-dive v. intr.;
swan-down (see
swan's-down);
swan-drop, (
a) the knob on a swan's bill; in
quot. 1821
transf.; (
b)
= swan-shot;
swan-egg = swan's-egg;
swan-flower = swan-plant (
a) ;
swan-goose, a large long-necked species of goose from Eastern Asia,
Cygnopsis cygnoides, also called Chinese or Guinea goose;
swan-mussel, a common species of freshwater mussel,
Anodonta cygnea;
† swan-pen [
cf. MDu. swan(en)penne swan's quill,
swanenpipe swan's quill,
esp. one used as a drain-pipe]
= swan-quill; also, a pipe of the width of a swan-quill (
cf. pen n.2 3 a) for draining;
swan-plant, (
a) an orchid of the S. American genus
Cycnoches, having flowers with a long curved column like a swan's neck; (
b) a W. Indian species of birthwort,
Aristolochia grandiflora, also called Pelican-flower;
swan-post [
ad. F.
poste;
cf. Cotgr., ‘
Postes, big haile-shot for Herons, Geese, and other such great fowle’]
= swan shot;
swanproof a. nonce-wd., not susceptible to the influence of Shakespeare (
cf. sense 2 c);
swan-quill, a swan's feather, or a pen made of one;
swan's bath (
pseudo-arch.), the water, the sea;
† swan's beak,
bill, a kind of surgical forceps (
cf. crane's-bill 2);
swan's egg (also
swan-egg), name of a variety of pear;
swan's feather, collectors' name for a species of moth,
Porrectaria cygnipennella, with pure white wings (Rennie, 1832);
swan-shot, a large size of shot, used for shooting swans; also used in angling as a weight;
swan-song [after G.
schwanen(ge)sang,
schwanenlied], a song like that fabled to be sung by a dying swan; the last work of a poet or musician, composed shortly before his death; hence, any final performance, action, or effort;
† swan's tongue, an old name for hemp-nettle (
Galeopsis Tetrahit);
Swan Vesta, the proprietary name of a make of match;
cf. Vesta 4. See also
swanherd, etc.
| 1865 T. R. Jones in Intell. Observ. Mar. 121 A *Swan animalcule (Trachelocerca olor). |
| 1898 Swimming Mag. Oct. 45/2 The diving..included forward headers,..somersaults and the ‘*Swan’ dive from twenty, thirty, and forty feet. 1912 J. London Son of Sun ii. 53, I used to swan-dive a hundred and ten feet in the clear. 1932 E. Hemingway Death in Afternoon i. 21 As though a diver could control..[the] speed..of a swan dive. 1972 B. F. Conners Don't embarrass Bureau (1973) i. 7 Mrs. Green..executed her swan dive, flopping onto the water with the poise of a stricken bird. |
| 1821 Blackw. Mag. IX. 62 Hazlitt I own is not pale, because of his rubicund *swan-drops. 1853 J. Palliser Solitary Rambles ii. 55 My own saddle-bags contained..powder and shot, and, by great good luck, some swan-drops. 1865 Pall Mall G. No. 187. 9/2 Fire-arms..loaded with heavy swan-drops. |
| 1884 Miller Plant-n., *Swan-flower, of Surinam, Cycnoches Loddigesii. |
| 1678 Ray Willughby's Ornith. 360 The *Swan-Goose: Anser cygnoides Hispanicus seu Guineensis... It is a stately Bird, walking with the Head and Neck decently erected. 1804 T. Bewick Brit. Birds II. 281 Swan Goose. Chinese, Spanish, Guinea, or Cape Goose. |
| 1777 Pennant Brit. Zool. IV. 96 Mytilus Cygneus. *Swan M[ussel] with a thin brittle shell, very broad and convex, marked with concentric striæ. 1864 Intell. Observ. Sept. 67 The swan-mussel (Anodonta)..is one of the largest of our bivalve molluscs. |
| 1426 Cov. Leet Bk. 108 Þat ther be no pype [to a conduit] more then a *swan penne. c 1480 Henryson Mor. Fab., Lion & Mouse Prol. vi, Ane roll of paper in his hand he bair; Ane swannis pen [ed. 1621 Swane⁓pen] stikkand vnder his eir. |
| 1841 Florist's Jrnl. (1846) II. 135 Cycnoches Loddigesii. This is the *swan plant. 1848 Schomburgk Hist. Barbados 621 Aristolochia grandiflora.. Jamaica, Trinidad. The Swan Plant. |
| 1846 C. St. John Wild Sports Highl. 252 With the double-barrel loaded with *swan-post. |
| 1905 G. B. Shaw in Shaw on Theatre (1958) 103 Since Shakespear's words are still the basis of the dialogue, there are moments when the bard enjoys his own again; for all the players are not as completely *swanproof as Mr Tree. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 454 Crow quills for draughtsmen, as well as *swan quills, are prepared in the same way. 1900 S. Weyman Sophia xxv, She unearthed a pewter ink-pot and an old swan-quill. |
| 1865 Kingsley Herew. iv, Take to the sea like your forefather, and come over the *swan's bath with me! |
| 1631 H. C[rooke] Expl. Instrum. Chirurg. 43 Another Instrument called the *Swans beake, the sides whereof are opened by a screw when it is insinuated into the wound. |
| Ibid. 41 Those instruments framed to draw out bullets..out of wounds..are almost all called by one generall name, Bills or Beakes, as the Crowes Bill, the Cranes Bill, the Drakes Bill, the Parrots Bill, and the *Swans Bill. |
| 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. iii. 400 These Pears. [Oct.] Green Sugar, Besidery, *Swan's Egg,..and others. 1767 Abercrombie Ev. Man his own Gardener (1803) 672/2 La Marquis, Swan Egg, Virgoleuse, [etc.]. 1843 J. Smith Forest Trees 163 Swan's egg is a small beautifully shaped pear. 1858 Geo. Eliot Scenes Clerical Life 232 Swan-egg pears. |
| 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 235 Large *Swan-Shot, as big as small Pistol Bullets. 1821 Scott Pirate viii, She will put a hundred swan-shot through a Dutchman's cap at eighty paces. 1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Man. Brit. Rural Sports 255/2 Swan-shot or lead, in some form, is required to sink the bait. 1882 M. E. Braddon Mt. Royal III. iv. 57 He is found with an empty bag, and a charge of swan-shot through his heart. 1971 Angling Times 10 June 6/2 Any float will do that a swan shot can't quite take under. |
| 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. iii. vii, The Phoenix soars aloft,..or, as now, she sinks, and with spheral *swan-song immolates herself in flame. 1837 ― Fr. Rev. i. ii. viii, We will call his Book [Saint-Pierre's ‘Paul et Virginie’] the swan-song of old dying France. 1890 Spectator 10 May, When Tennyson threw his swan-song [‘Crossing the Bar’]..before an instantly appreciating world. 1976 Monitor (McAllen, Texas) 28 Nov. 11a/4 Rockefeller fairly bubbled with optimism during a recent swan song interview. 1978 G. Greene Human Factor vi. ii. 319 Ivan made his swan song as an interpreter in a building not far from the Lubianka prison. |
| c 1450 Alphita (Anecd. Oxon.) 80/2 Herba hircina, i. tetrahit..anglice *swanestonge. |
| [1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 24/2 Swan White Pine Vestas. (Bryant & May's.)..Doz..0/3½.] 1908 Trade Marks Jrnl. 12 Aug. 1340 *Swan Vestas... Matches. Bryant & May, Limited, Fairfield Works, Bow, London..; match manufacturers. 1958 J. Townsend Young Devils vii. 59, I collected..a number of loose Swan Vestas from the class. 1977 ‘E. Crispin’ Glimpses of Moon vii. 109 Ling gave his Swan Vesta box an experimental shake. |
c. with reference to the keeping of swans and swan-upping, as
swan-book,
swan-hook,
swan-house,
swan-keeper,
swan laws,
swan-master,
swan-pit,
swan-rights,
swan-warden,
swan-yard.
| 1524 in Archaeologia (1812) XVI. 156 That there shall no Swannerd keep, or carry any swan book, but the King's Swannerd. c 1560 in Proc. Archæol. Inst., Lincoln (1850) 305 It is lawful for every owner, swanmaister, or swanheard, to pull up, or cut downe ye birdnet. Ibid. 306 If any person..be found carrijng any swanhooke, and the same person being no swanheard [etc.]. Ibid., They shall pay a land bird to the king, and be obedient to all swan lawes. 1600–1 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) III. 594 Pro mending the Swanhouse walles iiij{supd}. 1793 in Blackw. Mag. Dec. (1888) 862/1 [A minute in the books of the Hospital Trust [of St. Helen's, Norwich] says that a new] swan-yard [was constructed in 1793]. 1812 R. Surtees in J. Raine Mem. J. Hodgson (1857) I. 85 Swan-oats are regularly paid by the adjacent properties to the lessee of the old swan-house on the borders of the morass. 1843 Yarrell Brit. Birds III. 129 The principal governing officers of the [Vintners'] company for the time being are, a Master and three Wardens, the junior Warden of the year being called the Swan Warden. 1848 Bromehead in Proc. Archæol. Inst., Lincoln (1850) 301 note, The swanhook, attached to a long pole, by means of which the bird might readily be captured by the neck, is frequently introduced as a symbol amongst the varied devices composing the swanmarks in the MS. 1883 G. C. Davies Norfolk Broads xxix. 202 The swan-pit, at the back of the Old Man's Hospital, St. Helen's, Norwich. This pit is an oblong pool or tank,..with perpendicular sides... Here they [sc. cygnets] are fattened for the table, or reared for transmission to their future homes. 1888 Blackw. Mag. Dec. 861/2 There are several swan-pits belonging to the various owners of swan-rights on the Norwich rivers. Ibid. 862/1 From 80 to 100 cygnets may be seen..undergoing the process of fattening in the swan-pit. 1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 2 Aug. 2/1 Fourteen years ago the R.S.P.C.A. prosecuted the swan-masters. |
d. with reference to the stories in Aryan mythology of supernatural maidens having the power of transforming themselves into swans by means of a robe of swan's feathers or of a magic ring or chain, as
swan-bride,
swan-hero,
swan-maid,
swan-maiden (after G.
schwanenjungfrau),
swan-wife,
swan-woman;
swan-coat,
swan-ring,
swan-shift (after G.
schwanenhemd,
-ring); also applied to a personage in mediæval story, like Lohengrin, accompanied by a swan, as
swan-knight (
= knight of the swan, G.
schwanenritter, F.
chevalier au cygne).
| 1859 G. W. Dasent Pop. Tales from Norse p. lxi, Brynhildr and the Valkyries..became swan-maidens. 1862 H. Marryat Year in Sweden lxiv. II. 389 note, The smith..fancied his swan-bride had returned. 1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. xii. 346 note, Three women sit on the shore with their swan-coats beside them, ready to turn into swans and fly away. 1868 Baring-Gould Myths Mid. Ages Ser. ii. ix. 298 These swan-maidens are the houris of the Vedic heaven; receiving to their arms the souls of the heroes. Ibid. 302 At one time there is but a single swan-woman, at another the sky is dark with their numerous wings. 1880 Stallybrass tr. Grimm's Teut. Mythol. I. xvi. 427 The swan-hero forsakes his wife the moment she asks the forbidden question. Ibid., Many tales of swan-wives still live among the Norse people. Ibid. 428 When they [sc. swan-maidens] bathe in the cooling flood, they lay down on the bank the swan-ring, the swan-shift. 1889 R. B. Anderson tr. Rydberg's Teut. Mythol. 60 Among these swan-maids was Sif. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 133/1 A conclusion, in which the Swan-Knight, Lohengrin, is made Parzival's son. |
▪ II. swan, v.1 nonce-wd. [f. prec. n.] 1. intr. (
occas. with
it): To swim like a swan. Also
transf.| 1893 Meredith Ld. Ormont & Aminta i. I. 9 The forest Goddess of the Crescent, swanning it through a lake. 1938 H. G. Wells Apropos of Dolores vi. 304 He began as an Osteopath but afterwards he became a Mind Healer—with Physical Exercises... He taught them to swan (!?) Swan, you know—like swans. Swanning exercises. Some of them swan now quite beautifully. 1962 Listener 13 Sept. 386/2 In his painting Andrea can be seen swanning through the water. |
2. To move about freely or in an (apparently) aimless way (formerly,
spec. of armoured vehicles); hence, to travel idly or for pleasure. Freq. with
about,
around, or
off.
slang (
orig. Mil.).
| 1942 Daily Tel. 3 Sept. 6/6 Breaking up his armour into comparatively small groups of..tanks, he began ‘swanning about’, feeling north, north-west and east for them [sc. British tanks]. a 1944 K. Douglas Alamein to Zem Zem (1946) 24 It seemed crazy to go swanning off into the mist. 1945 Times 17 Mar. 4/2 [General Patton's armour]..is ‘swanning’ more or less unchallenged amid the open moors of the Hunsrück plateau. 1947 C. Day Lewis Poetic Image 111 A few bold or bomb-happy types still swanning around outside. 1961 G. Egmont Art of Egmontese i. 15 Another excellent way of making contacts is, of course, ‘swanning’ on the Continent. 1971 Petticoat 17 July 28/1 You can't do that if you're swanning around making films all the time. 1980 D. Bogarde Gentle Occupation viii. 200 She swanned about at the party like the Queen Mother. |
▪ III. swan, v.2 U.S. slang. [prob. north. Eng. dial. Is' wan lit. ‘I shall warrant’ = I'll be bound; later taken as a mincing substitute for swear v. Cf. swanny v.] I swan, I declare: often in exclamatory asseveration.
I swan to man, a mitigated form of
I swear to God.
| 1823 Missouri Intell. 20 May (Thornton), I swan it is. 1836 Haliburton Clockm. (1862) 65 If you hante obsarved it, I have, and a queer one it is, I swan. 1842 C. M. Kirkland Forest Life I. ii. 20 ‘Well! I swan!’ exclaimed the mamma. 1844 ‘Jon. Slick’ High Life N. York I. 3, I swan if it warn't enough to make a feller dry to see the hogsheads of rum and molasses. 1861 Lowell Biglow P. Ser. ii. i. Poems 1890 II. 239 They du preach, I swan to man, it's puf'kly indescrib'le! 1873 Carleton Farm Ball., ‘Betsey & I are out’ ii, ‘What is the matter?’ say you. I swan it's hard to tell! |
▪ IV. swan variant of
swon Obs., swineherd.