different between contain vs swathe

English

Etymology

From Middle English, borrowed from Old French contenir, from Latin continere (“to hold or keep together, comprise, contain”), combined form of con- (“together”) + tene? (“to hold”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: k?n-t?n?, IPA^(key): /k?n?te?n/
• Rhymes: -e?n
• Hyphenation: con?tain

Verb

contain (third-person singular simple present contains, present participle containing, simple past and past participle contained)

1. (transitive) To hold inside.
2. (transitive) To include as a part.
3. (transitive) To put constraint upon; to restrain; to confine; to keep within bounds.

   • [The king's] only Person is oftentimes instead of an Army, to contain the unruly People from a thousand evil Occasions.
4. (mathematics, of a set etc., transitive) To have as an element or subset.

5. (obsolete, intransitive) To restrain desire; to live in continence or chastity.

   • But if they cannot contain, let them marry.

Synonyms

• (hold inside): enclose, inhold
• (include as part): comprise, embody, incorporate, inhold
• (limit by restraint): control, curb, repress, restrain, restrict, stifle; See also Thesaurus:curb

Antonyms

• (include as part): exclude, omit
• (limit by restraint): release, vent

Usage notes

• This is generally a stative verb that rarely takes the continuous inflection. See Category:English stative verbs

Related terms

• container
• containable
• containment
• content
• continence

Translations

Further reading

• contain in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• contain in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• contain at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• actinon, cantion

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /swe?ð/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /sw?ð/, /swe?ð/, /sw?ð/
• Rhymes: -e?ð

Etymology 1

From Middle English swathe, swath, from Old English swaþu, swæþ (“bandage”), probably akin to Old English swaþul, sweþel (“a swathe, wrap, band, bandage”).

Noun

swathe (plural swathes)

1. A bandage; a band

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English swathen, from Old English *swaþian, akin to Old English besweþian (“to swathe, swaddle”).

Verb

swathe (third-person singular simple present swathes, present participle swathing, simple past and past participle swathed)

1. To bind with a swathe, band, bandage, or rollers
   • 1664, A briefe description of the whole world wherein is particularly described all the monarchies, empires, and kingdoms of the same, with their academies, as also their severall titles and scituations thereunto adjoyning, Archbishop Abbot, quoted in A Dictionary of the English Language, Samuel Johnson, 1755

     Their children are never swathed, or bound about with any thing when they are first born' but are put naked into the bed with their parents to lie.

   • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 4

     The head was swathed in linen bands that had been white, but were now stained and discoloured with damp, but of this I shall not speak more, and beneath the chin-cloth the beard had once escaped.

Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English swathe, from Old English swaþu (“track, trace”), from Proto-Germanic *swaþ?. More at swath.

Noun

swathe (plural swathes)

1. (chiefly British) Alternative spelling of swath
   • 2012, The Economist, Sep 29th 2012 issue, Venezuela’s presidential election: The autocrat and the ballot box

     As well as the advantages of abused office, Mr Chávez can boast enduring popularity among a broad swathe of poorer Venezuelans. They like him for his charisma, humble background and demotic speech.

Translations

Anagrams

• Wheats, saweth, wheats

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English swaþu, swæþ.

Alternative forms

• suaþe, swaþe

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?swa?ð(?)/, /?swa?/

Noun

swathe (plural swathez) (rare)

2. A strip or wrap, especially for wrapping babies in.

Related terms

• swathel, swethel
• swathen
• swathing

Descendants

• English: swaðe

References

• “sw??th(e, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-11-24.

Etymology 2

From Old English swaþu, from Proto-Germanic *swaþ?, from Proto-Indo-European *swem(b?)- (“to bend, turn, swing”).

Alternative forms

• swath, swað, swad
• (influenced by sward) swarth

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?swa?ð(?)/, /?swa?/

Noun

swathe (plural swathes)

2. A swath; the track left by a scythe.
3. (rare) A strip of land as a unit of measure.
4. (rare) A trace left behind by something.

Descendants

• English: swath, swathe
• Scots: swa, swarth

References

• “sw??th(e, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-11-24.