swath

Meaning

1. The track cut out by a scythe in mowing.
2. A broad sweep or expanse, such as of land or of people.

Synonyms

swathe

windrow

belt

row

strip

ribbon

🎀

track

flapper

Pronounced as (IPA)

/swɒθ/

Etymology

From Middle English swath, swathe, from Old English swæþ, swaþu (“track; trace; footstep; mark; vestige; scar”), from Proto-Germanic *swaþō (“a wind-swept place; open field; borderland; terrain”), from Proto-Indo-European *swem(bʰ)- (“to bend, turn, swing”).
Cognate with Dutch zwade, zwad (“swath; windrow”), German Schwade (“swath; windrow”), Icelandic svæði (“area; zone; sector; region”).
other etymological information
Corresponds to Middle Low German and Middle Dutch swat, Middle High German and MNG swade, NDu swad(e), Old Frisian swethe (“border”).
Root meaning: trace of a cut.
Attested in English since 888 in its obsolete meaning of track or trace, since 1475 in its more modern usage.
Cognate with German Schwaden (“row of mown grass or grain”).
No definite cognates outside Germanic languages.
* See F. Kluge, Etymologisches Wörterbuch (De Gruyter), entry Schwaden, and OED.