schwul

Meaning

1. (colloquial) gay
2. (derogatory, slang) having effeminate or flamboyant qualities; fruity, queer, swishy

Concepts

gay

homosexual

queer

faggot

gayly

Synonyms

homosexuell

gay

queer

homophil

andersherum

lesbisch

warm

☀️

gleichgeschlechtlich

andersrum

vom anderen Ufer

homo

warmer Bruder

verweichlichen

Translations

homosexual

gay

omosessuale

finocchio

gai

homoseksueel

gay

gai

gay

bicha

🪱

ibne

homo

homo

homosexuel

gay

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ʃvuːl/

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle Low German: swōl

In summary

Borrowed from Middle Low German swōl, swūl (“sultry, hot and humid”) (17th century), adopted into Standard German as schwül in the 18th century, ultimately from the root of schwelen (“to smoulder”).
The older form without umlaut appears in Berlin dialect in the 19th century in the current sense, building on the slang term warm (as in warmer Bruder) for ‘homosexual’. The earliest attestation of this sense dates to 1847 (Paul Derks).