different between swathe vs scathe

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.

English

Alternative forms

• scath (dialectal or obsolete)
• skaith, scaith (Scotland)

Etymology 1

From Middle English scathe, from Old English sceaþa (also sceaþu (“scathe, harm, injury”), from Proto-Germanic *skaþô (“damage, scathe”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keh?t- (“damage, harm”). Cognate with Scots skaith.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ske?ð/, /ske??/
• Rhymes: -e?ð, -e??

Noun

scathe (countable and uncountable, plural scathes)

1. (archaic or dialect) Harm; damage; injury; hurt; misfortune; waste.

Derived terms

• scatheful
• scatheless
• scathely

For quotations using this term, see Citations:scathe.

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English scathen, skathen, from Old English sceaþian, scaþan (“to scathe, hurt, harm, injure”) and Old Norse skaða (“to hurt”), both from Proto-Germanic *skaþ?n? (“to injure”). Cognate with Scots skaith, Danish skade, Dutch schaden, German schaden, Swedish skada; compare Gothic ???????????????????????????? (skaþjan), Old Norse skeðja (“to hurt”). Compare Ancient Greek ??????? (ask?th?s, “unhurt”), Albanian shkathët (“skillful, adept, clever”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ske?ð/
• Rhymes: -e?ð

Verb

scathe (third-person singular simple present scathes, present participle scathing, simple past and past participle scathed)

1. To injure or harm.
2. To blast; scorch; wither.
   • 1819, Washington Irving, The Broken Heart:

     Strokes of calamity that scathe and scorch the soul.

Derived terms

• scathel
• scathing
• unscathed

Translations

References

• scath in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• 'stache, 'taches, Scheat, achest, chaste, chates, cheats, he-cats, sachet, she-cat, stache, taches, thecas

Middle English

Adjective

scathe

1. Unfortunate, a pity, a shame.
   • 14th c. Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales. General Prologue: 445-6.