# sway

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈsweɪ̯/ · frequency rank #12,150

## Definitions
1. The act of swaying; a swaying motion; a swing or sweep of a weapon.
2. A rocking or swinging motion.
3. Influence, weight, or authority that inclines to one side
4. Preponderance; turn or cast of balance.
5. Rule; dominion; control; power.
6. A switch or rod used by thatchers to bind their work.
7. The maximum amplitude of a vehicle's lateral motion.
8. Synonym of sweet flag (“Acorus calamus”)

## Etymology
From earlier swey (“to fall, swoon”), from Middle English sweyen, from Old English *swǣġan (“to bend, bow”), from Proto-West Germanic *swaigijan, from Proto-Germanic *swaigijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sweh₁-
See also Saterland Frisian swooie (“to swing, wave, wobble”); also Lithuanian svai̇̃gti (“to become giddy or dizzy”), the second element of Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬌𐬭𐬌-𐬱𐬑𐬎𐬀𐬑𐬙𐬀 (paⁱri-šxuaxta, “to surround”), Sanskrit स्वजते (svájate, “he embraces, enfolds”).
The noun derived from the verb.

## Easily confused with
- **Sy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sway-vs-sy)
- **swim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sway-vs-swim)
- **swot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sway-vs-swot)
- **swig** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sway-vs-swig)
- **swear** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sway-vs-swear)
- **sweat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sway-vs-sweat)
- **sweaty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sway-vs-sweaty)
- **swayed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sway-vs-swayed)
- **SA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sa-vs-sway)
- **SW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sw-vs-sway)
- **say** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/say-vs-sway)
- **saw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/saw-vs-sway)
- **sea** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sea-vs-sway)
- **san** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/san-vs-sway)
- **sad** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sad-vs-sway)
- **sky** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sky-vs-sway)
- **Sam** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sam-vs-sway)
- **sat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sat-vs-sway)
- **spy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spy-vs-sway)
- **shy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shy-vs-sway)

## Common misspellings (6)
`sawy`, `ssway`, `swayy`, `swway`, `swya`, `wsay`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/sway