# swim

> English word · Verb · IPA /swɪm/ · frequency rank #5,089

## Definitions
1. To move through the water, without touching the bottom; to propel oneself in water by natural means.
2. To become immersed in, or as if in, or flooded with, or as if with, a liquid.
3. To move around freely because of excess space.
4. To traverse (a specific body of water, or a specific distance) by swimming; or, to use a specific swimming stroke; or, to compete in a specific swimming event.
5. To cause to swim.
6. To float.
7. To be overflowed or drenched.
8. To immerse in water to make the lighter parts float.
9. To test (a suspected witch) by throwing into a river; those who floated rather than sinking were deemed to be witches.
10. To glide along with a waving motion.
11. To have a great quantity of something.

## Etymology
From Middle English swymmen, from Old English swimman (“to swim, float”) (class III strong verb; past tense swamm, past participle geswummen), from Proto-West Germanic *swimman, from Proto-Germanic *swimmaną (“to swim”), from Proto-Indo-European *swem(bʰ)- (“to be unsteady, move, swim”).
Cognates
Cognate with North Frisian sweem, swome, swume, swumi, swumme, swääm (“to swim”), Saterland Frisian and West Frisian swimme (“to swim”), Dutch zwemmen (“to swim”), German schwimmen (“to swim”), Limburgish schwämme, zwömme (“to swim”), Low German swimmen (“to swim”), Luxembourgish schwammen (“to swim”), Vilamovian švymma, śwyma, śwymma (“to swim”), Yiddish שווימען (shvimen, “to swim”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål svømme (“to swim”), Faroese svimja (“to swim”), Norn suma (“to swim”), Norwegian Nynorsk svemja, svemje, svømma, svømme, symja, symje (“to swim”), Swedish simma (“to swim”).

## Easily confused with
- **swot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swim-vs-swot)
- **swing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swim-vs-swing)
- **Swiss** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swim-vs-swiss)
- **swipe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swim-vs-swipe)
- **swine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swim-vs-swine)
- **swirl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swim-vs-swirl)
- **Swims** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swim-vs-swims)
- **swish** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swim-vs-swish)
- **SI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/si-vs-swim)
- **SM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sm-vs-swim)
- **SW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sw-vs-swim)
- **six** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/six-vs-swim)
- **sir** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sir-vs-swim)
- **sit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sit-vs-swim)
- **Sam** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sam-vs-swim)
- **sin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sin-vs-swim)
- **sum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sum-vs-swim)
- **ski** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ski-vs-swim)
- **SCI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sci-vs-swim)
- **SIM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sim-vs-swim)

## Common misspellings (6)
`siwm`, `sswim`, `swimm`, `swmi`, `swwim`, `wsim`

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