swage

English

WOTD – 4 January 2013, 4 January 2015

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsweɪd͡ʒ/, /ˈswɛd͡ʒ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophones: suage, swedge
• Rhymes: -eɪdʒ, -ɛdʒ

Etymology 1

Inherited from Middle English swage, from Old French souage (“decorative groove”), from soue (“rope”), from Vulgar Latin *soca, from Gaulish *souca (“cord”), from Proto-Celtic *soukā, from Proto-Indo-European *sew- (“to twist, bend”).

Noun

swage (plural swages)

1. A tool, used by blacksmiths and other metalworkers, for shaping of a metal item.
   • 2003, Gene Logsdon, The Pond Lovers, University of Georgia Press, published 2003, →ISBN, page 45:

     "I made a swage and hammered out the test bars to the required .615 inch plus or minus .003, the thickness of a sheet of paper. […]

   • 2005, Mike McCarthy, Ships' Fastenings: From Sewn Boat to Steamship, Texas A&M University Press, published 2005, →ISBN, page 87:

     If he were making round or square-sectioned nails, the blacksmith also kept a "swage" near the anvil. If different sizes, shapes, and heads were required, the nailor had a number of swages or a number of holes in the one swage.

   • 2008, Wilbur Cross, Gullah Culture in America, Praeger, published 2008, →ISBN, page 73:

     […] The blacksmith let me help out, hold the horse while he was putting the shoe on, turn the hand forge, clean up the shop. And after awhile he taught me names of everything. He'd say, 'Boy, hand me the three-inch swage,' and I had to know just what he wanted. I learned that way."

Usage notes

A swage may be variously shaped or grooved on the end or face, but typically involves working with cold metal by forcing it into a die.

Derived terms

• swage block

Translations

tool used by blacksmiths and other metalworkers for cold shaping of a metal item

• Afrikaans: sneedhamer
• Bulgarian: пуансон (puanson)
• Catalan: estampidor m
• Dutch: sneedhamer m
• German: Gesenk n, Formgesenk n, Stanze (de) f, Form (de) f, Matrize (de) f, Schmiedegesenk n, Formwerkzeug n, Stempel (de) m

Verb

swage (third-person singular simple present swages, present participle swaging, simple past and past participle swaged)

1. (transitive) To bend or shape through use of a swage.

Translations

to bend or shape through use of a swage

• Bulgarian: щампосвам (bg) (štamposvam)
• German: stauchen (de), pressen (de), stanzen (de), sicken (de), kneten (de), prägen (de), tiefziehen, gesenkschmieden, gesenkformen, rundhämmern, gesenkdrücken, fassonschmieden, verjüngen (de)

Etymology 2

From assuage by aphesis.

Alternative forms

• suage

Verb

swage (third-person singular simple present swages, present participle swaging, simple past and past participle swaged)

1. Obsolete form of assuage.
   • 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […]”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC:

     apt words have power to swage

References

• Roberts, Edward A. (2014) A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Spanish Language with Families of Words based on Indo-European Roots, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN

Anagrams

• waegs, wages

Middle English

Alternative forms

• swag

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French souage, from soue (“rope”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈswaːd͡ʒ(ə)/

Noun

swage (plural swages)

1. An adornment surrounding the edge of a vessel.

Descendants

• English: swage

References

• “swāǧ(e, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.