different between sway vs trill

English

Etymology

Earlier swey (“to fall, swoon”), from Middle English sweyen, from Old Norse sveigja (“to bend, bow”), from Proto-Germanic *swaigijan? (compare Saterland Frisian swooie (“to swing, wave, wobble”), Dutch zwaaien, Dutch Low Saxon sweuen (“to sway in the wind”), from Proto-Indo-European *sweh?- (compare Lithuanian sva?gti (“to become giddy or dizzy”), the second element of Avestan ????????????????????-????????????????????????????? (paⁱri-šxuaxta, “to surround”), Sanskrit ?????? (svájate, “he embraces, enfolds”).

The noun derived from the verb.

Pronunciation

• enPR: sw?, IPA^(key): /swe?/
• Rhymes: -e?

Noun

sway (countable and uncountable, plural sways)

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.

Translations

Verb

sway (third-person singular simple present sways, present participle swaying, simple past and past participle swayed)

1. To move or swing from side to side; or backward and forward; to rock.

   • Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.

2. To move or wield with the hand; to swing; to wield.
3. To influence or direct by power, authority, persuasion, or by moral force; to rule; to govern; to guide. Compare persuade.

   • This was the race / To sway the world, and land and sea subdue.
4. To cause to incline or swing to one side, or backward and forward; to bias; to turn; to bend; warp.
   • 1663, John Tillotson, The Wisdom of being Religious

     Let not temporal and little advantages sway you against a more durable interest.

5. (nautical) To hoist (a mast or yard) into position.

6. To be drawn to one side by weight or influence; to lean; to incline.
   • 1623, Francis Bacon, A Discourse of a War with Spain

     The balance sways on our part.

7. To have weight or influence.
   • 1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie

     The example of sundry churches […] doth sway much.

8. To bear sway; to rule; to govern.

Derived terms

• asway

Translations

See also

• persuade

Anagrams

• -ways, Yaws, ways, yaws

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English trillen, from Italian trillo, trillare. Compare Norwegian trille, Swedish trilla.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t??l/, [t??????l]
• Rhymes: -?l

Noun

trill (plural trills)

1. (music) A rapid alternation between an indicated note and the one above it, in musical notation usually indicated with the letters tr written above the staff.
2. (phonetics) A type of consonantal sound that is produced by vibrations of the tongue against the place of articulation: for example, Spanish ?rr?, /r/.
3. A tremulous high-pitched vocal sound produced by cats.

Derived terms

• trilly

Translations

Verb

trill (third-person singular simple present trills, present participle trilling, simple past and past participle trilled)

1. (intransitive) To create a trill sound; to utter trills or a trill; to play or sing in tremulous vibrations of sound; to have a trembling sound; to quaver.
   • 1692, John Dryden, Cleomenes, the Spartan Hero, a Tragedy

     To judge of trilling notes and tripping feet.

2. (transitive) To impart the quality of a trill to; to utter as, or with, a trill.
   • 1730, James Thomson, Seasons - Summer

     The sober-suited songstress trills her lay.

Synonyms

• roll

Derived terms

• triller

Translations

Further reading

• trill (music) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• trill consonant on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

Perhaps identical to Etymology 3, but compare the same sense of drill, and German trillen, drillen.

Verb

trill (third-person singular simple present trills, present participle trilling, simple past and past participle trilled)

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To trickle.
   • 1737, Richard Glover, Leonidas Book {{{1}}}

     Whisper'd sounds / Of waters, trilling from the riven stone.

Etymology 3

Probably related to Old English þweran (“to twirl, stir”). Compare twirl, thirl, and Swedish trilla, Norwegian trille, etc.

Verb

trill (third-person singular simple present trills, present participle trilling, simple past and past participle trilled)

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To twirl.

Related terms

• tirl

Etymology 4

Perhaps a blend of true +? real.

Adjective

trill (comparative triller, superlative trillest)

1. (slang, hip-hop culture) true, respected

Albanian

Noun

trill ? (indefinite plural trillime, definite singular trilli, definite plural trillimet)

1. whim, tantrum, bizarre fantasy

Derived terms

• trilloj

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

trill

1. imperative of trille