different between swear vs represent

English

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

From Middle English sweren, swerien, from Old English swerian (“to swear, take an oath of office”), from Proto-West Germanic *swarjan, from Proto-Germanic *swarjan? (“to speak, swear”), from Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“to swear”).

Cognate with West Frisian swarre (“to swear”), Saterland Frisian swera (“to swear”), Dutch zweren (“to swear, vow”), Low German swören (“to swear”), sweren, German schwören (“to swear”), Danish sværge, Swedish svära (“to swear”), Icelandic sverja (“to swear”), Russian ????? (svara, “quarrel”). Also cognate to Albanian var (“to hang, consider, to depend from”) through Proto-Indo-European.

The original sense in all Germanic languages is “to take an oath”. The sense “to use bad language” developed in Middle English and is based on the Christian prohibition against swearing in general (cf. Matthew 5:33-37) and invoking God’s name in particular (i.e. frequent swearing was considered similar to the use of obscene words).

Verb

swear (third-person singular simple present swears, present participle swearing, simple past swore or (archaic) sware, past participle sworn or yswore)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To take an oath, to promise.

   • The Bat—they called him the Bat. […]. He'd never been in stir, the bulls had never mugged him, he didn't run with a mob, he played a lone hand, and fenced his stuff so that even the fence couldn't swear he knew his face.

2. (transitive, intransitive) To use offensive, profane, or obscene language.

Usage notes

• In sense 1, this is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:swear word
• See also Thesaurus:swear

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From the above verb, or from Middle English sware, from Old English swaru, from Proto-Germanic *swar?.

Noun

swear (plural swears)

1. A swear word.
   • 1892, Robert Louis Stevenson, The Beach of Falesá

     You might think it funny to hear this Kanaka girl come out with a big swear. No such thing. There was no swearing in her — no, nor anger; she was beyond anger, and meant the word simple and serious.

Etymology 3

From Middle English swere, swer, swar, from Old English sw?r, sw?r (“heavy, heavy as a burden, of great weight, oppressive, grievous, painful, unpleasant, sad, feeling or expressing grief, grave, slow, dull, sluggish, slothful, indolent, inactive from weakness, enfeebled, weak”), from Proto-West Germanic *sw?r, from Proto-Germanic *sw?raz (“heavy”), from Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“heavy”).

Cognate with West Frisian swier (“heavy”), Dutch zwaar (“heavy, hard, difficult”), German schwer (“heavy, hard, difficult”), Swedish svår (“heavy, hard, severe”), Latin s?rius (“earnest, grave, solemn, serious”) and Albanian varrë (“wound, plague”).

Alternative forms

• sweer, sweir, swere

Adjective

swear (comparative swearer or more swear, superlative swearest or most swear)

1. (Britain dialectal) Heavy.
2. (Britain dialectal) Top-heavy; too high.
3. (Britain dialectal) Dull; heavy; lazy; slow; reluctant; unwilling.
4. (Britain dialectal) Niggardly.
5. (Britain dialectal) A lazy time; a short rest during working hours (especially field labour); a siesta.

Derived terms

Verb

swear (third-person singular simple present swears, present participle swearing, simple past and past participle sweared)

1. (Britain dialectal) To be lazy; rest for a short while during working hours.

References

• swear at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• resaw, sawer, sware, wares, wears

English

Etymology 1

From Old French représenter, from Latin repraesent?.

Alternative forms

• repræsent (archaic)

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /??p.??.?z?nt/

Verb

represent (third-person singular simple present represents, present participle representing, simple past and past participle represented)

1. (transitive) To present again or anew; to present by means of something standing in the place of; to exhibit the counterpart or image of; to typify.
2. (transitive) To portray visually; to delineate

3. (transitive) To portray by mimicry or acting; to act the part or character of

   Synonym: play

4. (transitive) To stand or act in the place of; to perform the duties, exercise the rights, or otherwise act on behalf of

5. (politics, transitive) To act as a representative of (a country, state, district etc.)

6. (transitive) To portray to another using language; to show; to give one's own impressions and judgement of

7. (transitive) To give an account of; to describe.
8. (transitive) To serve as a sign or symbol of
9. (transitive) To bring a certain sensation of into the mind; to cause to be known, felt, or apprehended; to present.
10. (transitive) To form or image again in consciousness, as an object of cognition or apprehension (something presentative, which was originally apprehended by direct presentation).
11. (transitive) To constitute, to make up, to be an example of.
12. (sports, transitive) To participate as a team member
13. (intransitive, African-American Vernacular) To constitute a good example or symbol of a group of people; to acquit oneself well.
    • 1999, Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg, Still D.R.E.

      I'm representing for the gangsters all across the world.

      Still hitting them corners in them low lows girl.

Synonyms

• (to constitute): form, make up; see also Thesaurus:compose

Derived terms

• under-represent, underrepresent

Related terms

• representability
• representable
• representation
• representative

Translations

Etymology 2

re- +? present.

Alternative forms

• re-present

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?i(?).p??.?z?nt/

Verb

represent (third-person singular simple present represents, present participle representing, simple past and past participle represented)

1. (medicine) To present again, for instance for medical attention.

Related terms

• representation

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• presenter, repenters