n. (pl.)
'servants'
(Modern English swain)Always derived from ON rather than the OE cognate because of the vocalism: cp. OIcel sveinn 'boy, young man, servant' < PGmc *swainaz (cp. OE swān 'herdsman, peasant', OS swēn 'herd, swine-herd', OHG swein 'servant, shepherd').
PGmc Ancestor
*swainaz
Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)
sveinn 'boy, young man, servant'
(ONP sveinn (sb.))
Other Scandinavian Reflexes
Far sveinur, Icel sveinn, Norw svein, Dan svend, OSw sven, Sw sven
OE Cognate
swān 'herdsman, peasant'
Phonological and morphological markers
ON /ei/ < PGmc */ai/
Summary category
A1*
The borrowed form first appears in late OE as swegen (see further SPS 2 n.2 and 30). It is common and widespread in ME texts and also occurs in surnames and Yks. place-names (see MED, EPNE).
Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus
Cl 1509