swamp
Meaning
-
- A piece of wet, spongy land; low ground saturated with water; soft, wet ground which may have a growth of certain kinds of trees, but is unfit for agricultural or pastoral purposes.
- A type of wetland that stretches for vast distances, and is home to many creatures which have adapted specifically to that environment.
- A place or situation that is foul or where progress is difficult.
Synonyms
quag
flat country
bog land
shallow water
marshy area
moss land
marsh land
swamped ground
small lake
swamp hickory
swamp land
swampy ground
fen land
Frequency
Pronounced as (IPA)
/swɒmp/
Etymology
From a fusion of Middle English swam (“swamp, muddy pool, bog, marsh”, also “fungus, mushroom”), from Old English swamm (“mushroom, fungus, sponge”), and Middle English sompe (“marsh, morass”), from Middle Dutch somp, sump (“marsh, swamp”), or Middle Low German sump (“marsh, swamp”), from Old Saxon *sump (“swamp, marsh”); all from Proto-West Germanic *sump, from Proto-Germanic *sumpaz. Cognate with Dutch zwamp (“swamp, marsh, fen”), 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.
Cognate with Dutch
zwamp
Cognate with Dutch
zomp
Cognate with German
Sumpf
Cognate with Dutch
zwam
Cognate with German
Schwamm
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