swale
/sweɪl/noun, verb
swale is spelled S-W-A-L-E: 5 letters. It appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 78,613th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Swale, the name). As a noun, swale means “A low tract of moist or marshy land” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of swale is swales.
How many letters and syllables are in swale?
| Letters | 5: S-W-A-L-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 7 million words; the 78,613th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is swale?
Swale appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 78,613th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Swale, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce swale?
- /sweɪl/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-swale.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of swale
- swales plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- swaling participle, present
- swaled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does swale mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A low tract of moist or marshy land.
- 2
A long narrow and shallow trough between ridges on a beach, running parallel to the coastline.
- 3
A shallow troughlike depression created to carry water during rainstorms or snow melts; a drainage ditch.
- 4
Bioswale, a shallow trough dug into the land on contour (horizontally with no slope), whose purpose is to allow water time to percolate into the soil.
- 5
A shallow, usually grassy depression sloping downward from a plains upland meadow or level vegetated ridgetop.
- 6
UKA gutter in a candle.
verb
- 1
Alternative form of sweal (“melt and waste away, or singe”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Swale in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Niederung, Flussniederung, Aue, Senke, Bodensenke, Bruch |
| Portuguese | canaleta, valeta |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does swale come from?
Possibly from Middle English swale (“a shady place, a shadow”), perhaps of North Germanic origin; akin to Old Norse svalr (“cool, fresh”), Icelandic svalir (“a balcony running along a wall”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).