# swine

> English word · Noun · IPA /swaɪn/ · frequency rank #15,928

## Definitions
1. A pig (the animal).
2. A pig (the animal).
The Zimmerman farm introduced swine to their husbandry.
3. A contemptible person (plural swine or swines).
4. A police officer; a "pig".
5. Something difficult or awkward; a pain.

## Etymology
From Middle English swyn, swin, from Old English swīn, from Proto-West Germanic *swīn, from Proto-Germanic *swīną, from an adjectival form of Proto-Indo-European *suH- (“pig”).
Cognates
Related to West Frisian swyn, Low German Swien, Dutch zwijn, German Schwein, Danish and Swedish svin, and more distantly to Polish świnia, Russian свинья́ (svinʹjá), Latin sūinus, Latin sūs, Ancient Greek ὗς (hûs), Persian خوک (xuk).

## Easily confused with
- **swing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swine-vs-swing)
- **Swiss** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swine-vs-swiss)
- **swipe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swine-vs-swipe)
- **swore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swine-vs-swore)
- **swung** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swine-vs-swung)
- **swirl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swine-vs-swirl)
- **swish** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swine-vs-swish)
- **swings** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swine-vs-swings)
- **swivel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swine-vs-swivel)
- **swipes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swine-vs-swipes)
- **swinger** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swine-vs-swinger)
- **sin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sin-vs-swine)
- **sie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sie-vs-swine)
- **side** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/side-vs-swine)
- **site** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/site-vs-swine)
- **size** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/size-vs-swine)
- **skin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/skin-vs-swine)
- **sing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sing-vs-swine)
- **spin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spin-vs-swine)
- **sink** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sink-vs-swine)

## Common misspellings (7)
`siwne`, `sswine`, `swien`, `swinne`, `swnie`, `swwine`, `wsine`

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