swamp

Meaning

Noun

1. An area of wet (water-saturated), spongy (soft) land, often with trees, generally a rich ecosystem for certain plants and animals but ill-suited for many agricultural purposes. (A type of wetland. Compare marsh, bog, fen.)
2. (figuratively) A place or situation that is foul or where progress is difficult.
3. (US) The alleged corruption, cronyism, inefficiency, and entrenched interests in the federal government, especially in Washington, DC.

Verb

1. To drench or fill with water.
2. (figuratively) To overwhelm; to make too busy, or overrun the capacity of.
3. (figuratively) To plunge into difficulties and perils; to overwhelm; to ruin; to wreck.
4. (Appalachia) To clear (a road or an area) of brush, particularly so as to create a path for loggers to be able to access trees.

Synonyms

marsh

bog

morass

fen

quagmire

wetland

mire

marshland

flood

inundate

pond

overwhelm

lake

quag

swampland

submerge

slough

deluge

wetlands

mud

moor

drench

Moor

bayou

engulf

heath

low

peatland

pool

sink

swale

wallaby

glade

fulfill

overburden

overflow

overgrow

overload

flat country

bog land

plunge

fill up

muckland

puddle

fill

everglade

reeds

reservoir

shallow water

marshy area

Translations

Sumpf

marais

palude

pantano

marécage

moeras

Moor

pântano

pantano

broek

pantà

palus

drasland

lama

Pronounced as (IPA)

/swɒmp/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: swam

Inherited from Old English: swamm

Inherited from Middle English: sompe

Cognate with Dutch: zwamp

Cognate with Middle Low German: swamp

Cognate with Dutch: zomp

Cognate with German: Sumpf

Cognate with Swedish: sump

Cognate with Dutch: zwam

Cognate with German: Schwamm

Cognate with Swedish: svamp

Cognate with Icelandic: svampur

Cognate with Gothic: 𐍃𐍅𐌿𐌼𐍃𐌻

In summary

Early attestations (starting in 1624) are from North America, but the term was probably in local use in Britain earlier. The etymology is not entirely certain; it is probably a fusion of Middle English swam (“swamp, muddy pool, bog, marsh”, also “fungus, mushroom”) — from Old English swamm (“mushroom, fungus, sponge”), from Proto-West Germanic *swamm, from Proto-Germanic *swambaz, *swammaz — and Middle English sompe (“marsh, morass”), from either Middle Dutch somp, sump (“marsh, swamp”) or Middle Low German sump (“marsh, swamp”) (from Old Saxon *sump (“swamp, marsh”)), both from Proto-West Germanic *sump, from Proto-Germanic *sumpaz. *Swambaz, *swammaz and *sumpaz are likely related to each other, but it is unclear whether they are of Indo-European origin or are substrate words or wanderworts.
The word has alternatively been suggested to be a borrowing from Dutch zwamp (“swamp, marsh, fen”). Other cognates include Middle Low German swamp (“sponge, mushroom”), Dutch zomp (“swamp, lake, marshy place”), German Low German Sump (“swamp, bog, marsh”), German Sumpf (“swamp”), Swedish sump (“swamp”). Related also to Dutch zwam (“fungus, punk, tinder”), German Schwamm (“mushroom, fungus, sponge”), Swedish svamp (“mushroom, fungus, sponge”), Icelandic svampur, sveppur (“fungus”), Gothic 𐍃𐍅𐌿𐌼𐍃𐌻 (swumsl, “a ditch”). Related to sump, swim.