sweltan

Middle English

Verb

sweltan

1. (Early Middle English) Alternative form of swelten

Old English

Alternative forms

• swealtan, swiltan

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *sweltan, from Proto-Germanic *sweltaną. Cognate with Old Saxon sweltan, Old Dutch *sweltan, Old High German swelzan, Old Norse svelta, Gothic 𐍃𐍅𐌹𐌻𐍄𐌰𐌽 (swiltan).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈswel.tɑn/, [ˈsweɫ.tɑn]

Verb

sweltan

1. to die

   Far þū wel! Ealle menn sċulon sweltan.

   Farewell! All men must die.

Usage notes

• Dying "of" something can be expressed with the dative or instrumental case: Mē is lēofre þæt iċ hungre swelte þonne sċame (“I'd rather die of hunger than of shame”). Various prepositions are also commonly used, namely mid, for, and on, the latter especially with diseases: Þū ġefōre on ūtsihte (“You have died of dysentery”).

• The dative/instrumental is also used for "dying [a certain kind of] death": Sibsume dēaðe hēo swealt (“She died a peaceful death”).

Conjugation

Conjugation of sweltan (strong class 3)

infinitive	sweltan	sweltenne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	swelte	swealt
second person singular	swilst, swiltst	swulte
third person singular	swilt	swealt
plural	sweltaþ	swulton
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	swelte	swulte
plural	swelten	swulten
imperative
singular	swelt
plural	sweltaþ
participle	present	past
	sweltende	(ġe)swolten

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:sweltan.

Derived terms

• ġesweltan

Descendants

• Middle English: swelten
  • English: swelt
  • Scots: swelt

Descendants

• Middle English: swelten, swelte, squelt, suelt, sweltan
  • English: swelt
  • Scots: swelt, swalt

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *sweltan, from Proto-Germanic *sweltaną, whence also Old English sweltan, modern Dutch zwelten.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈswɛltɑn/

Verb

sweltan

1. to die

   gisāhun iro barn qualmu sueltan — they saw their child die (Heliand, verse 750)

Conjugation

Conjugation of sweltan (strong class 3)

infinitive	sweltan
indicative	present	past
1st person singular	swiltu	swalt
2nd person singular	swiltis	swulti
3rd person singular	swiltid	swalt
plural	sweltad	swultun
subjunctive	present	past
1st person singular	swelte	swulti
2nd person singular	sweltes	swultis
3rd person singular	swelte	swulti
plural	swelten	swultin
imperative	present
singular	swelt
plural	sweltad
participle	present	past
	swiltandi	giswoltan, swoltan