What does swan mean?

Definitions for swan
swɒnswan

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word swan.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. swanverb

    stately heavy-bodied aquatic bird with very long neck and usually white plumage as adult

  2. affirm, verify, assert, avow, aver, swan, swearverb

    to declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true

    "Before God I swear I am innocent"

  3. roll, wander, swan, stray, tramp, roam, cast, ramble, rove, range, drift, vagabondverb

    move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment

    "The gypsies roamed the woods"; "roving vagabonds"; "the wandering Jew"; "The cattle roam across the prairie"; "the laborers drift from one town to the next"; "They rolled from town to town"

  4. swanverb

    sweep majestically

    "Airplanes were swanning over the mountains"

Wiktionary

  1. swannoun

    (plural also 'swan') Any of various species of large, long-necked waterfowl, of genus Cygnus, most of which have white plumage.

  2. swannoun

    One whose grace etc. suggests a swan.

  3. swanverb

    To travel from place to place with no fixed itinerary or purpose.

  4. Swannoun

    someone connected with Swansea City Football Club, as a fan, player, coach, etc.

  5. Swannoun

    someone connected with the Sydney Swans, as a fan, player, coach, etc.

  6. Etymology: From swanaz, whence also Old High German, Old Norse svanr

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. SWANnoun

    The swan is a large water-fowl, that has a long and very straight neck, and is very white, excepting when it is young. Its legs and feet are black, as is its bill, which is like that of a goose, but something rounder, and a little hooked at the lower end of it: the two sides below its eyes are black and shining like ebony. Swans use wings like sails, which catch the wind, so that they are driven along in the water. They feed upon herbs and some sort of grain like a goose, and some are said to have lived three hundred years. There is a species of swans with the feathers of their heads, towards the breast, marked at the ends with a gold colour inclining to red. The swan is reckoned by Moses among the unclean creatures; but it was consecrated to Apollo the god of musick, because it was said to sing melodiously when it was near expiring; a tradition generally received, but fabulous. Augustin Calmet

    Etymology: swan , Saxon; suan, Danish; swaen, Dutch.

    With untainted eye
    Compare her face with some that I shall show,
    And I will make thee think thy swan a crow. William Shakespeare.

    Let musick sound, while he doth make his choice;
    Then if he lose, he makes a swan like end. William Shakespeare.

    I have seen a swan,
    With bootless labour, swim against the tide,
    And spend her strength with over-matching waves. William Shakespeare.

    The birds easy to be drawn are planipedes, or water-fowl, as the mallard, goose, and swan. Henry Peacham, on Drawing.

    The fearful matrons raise a screaming cry,
    Old feeble men with fainter groans reply;
    A jarring sound results, and mingles in the sky,
    Like that of swans remurm’ring to the floods. Dryden.

    The idea, which an Englishman signifies by the name swan, is a white colour, long neck, black beak, black legs, and whole feet, and all these of a certain size, with a power of swimming in the water, and making a certain kind of noise. John Locke.

Wikipedia

  1. Swan

    Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus Cygnus. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae. There are six living and many extinct species of swan; in addition, there is a species known as the coscoroba swan which is no longer considered one of the true swans. Swans usually mate for life, although "divorce" sometimes occurs, particularly following nesting failure, and if a mate dies, the remaining swan will take up with another. The number of eggs in each clutch ranges from three to eight.

ChatGPT

  1. swan

    A swan is a large, long-necked aquatic bird from the family Anatidae, known for its elegant beauty and majestic flight. Known for their pure white or black feathers, swans are usually found in temperate environments and are herbivores, eating aquatic plants, seeds, and small insects. They have a strong cultural connotation with love, grace, purity and beauty due to their lifelong monogamous nature and the graceful way they move.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Swannoun

    any one of numerous species of large aquatic birds belonging to Cygnus, Olor, and allied genera of the subfamily Cygninae. They have a large and strong beak and a long neck, and are noted for their graceful movements when swimming. Most of the northern species are white. In literature the swan was fabled to sing a melodious song, especially at the time of its death

  2. Swannoun

    fig.: An appellation for a sweet singer, or a poet noted for grace and melody; as Shakespeare is called the swan of Avon

  3. Swannoun

    the constellation Cygnus

  4. Etymology: [AS. swan; akin to D. zwaan, OHG. swan, G. schwan, Icel. svanr, Sw. svan, Dan. svane; and perhaps to E. sound something audible.]

Wikidata

  1. Swan

    Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus Cygnus. The swans' close relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae. There are six or seven species of swan in the genus Cygnus; in addition there is another species known as the Coscoroba Swan, although this species is no longer considered one of the true swans. Swans usually mate for life, though 'divorce' does sometimes occur, particularly following nesting failure. The number of eggs in each clutch ranges from three to eight.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Swan

    swon, n. a genus of birds constituting a very distinct section of the Duck family Anatidæ, having the neck as long as the body, noted for grace and stateliness of movement on the water.—ns. Swan′-goose, the China goose; Swan′-herd, one who tends swans; Swan′-hop′ping, better Swan′-mark′ing and Swan′-up′ping, the custom of marking the upper mandible of a swan to show ownership—done annually to the royal swans on the Thames, the occasion being excuse for a festive expedition.—adj. Swan′-like.—ns. Swan′-maid′en, a familiar figure in European folklore, changing at will into a maiden or a swan by means of the magic properties of her shift; Swan′-mark, the notch made on the swan's upper mandible; Swan′-neck, the end of a pipe, &c., curved like a swan's neck; Swan′nery, a place where swans are kept and tended.—adj. Swan′ny, swan-like.—ns. Swan's′-down, the down or under-plumage of a swan, used for powder-puffs, &c.: a soft woollen cloth: a thick cotton with a soft nap on one side; Swan′-shot, a shot of large size, like buck-shot; Swan′-skin, the unplucked skin of a swan: a soft, nappy, fine-twilled flannel; Swan′-song, the fabled song of a swan just before its death: a poet's or musician's last work. [A.S. swan; Ger. schwan, Dut. zwaan.]

Suggested Resources

  1. swan

    Song lyrics by swan -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by swan on the Lyrics.com website.

  2. SWAN

    What does SWAN stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the SWAN acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. SWAN

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Swan is ranked #1564 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Swan surname appeared 23,001 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 8 would have the surname Swan.

    79.1% or 18,210 total occurrences were White.
    12.9% or 2,969 total occurrences were Black.
    2.4% or 559 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
    2.3% or 550 total occurrences were of two or more races.
    2.1% or 504 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.
    0.9% or 212 total occurrences were Asian.

Matched Categories

Anagrams for swan »

  1. awns

  2. NASW

  3. sawn

  4. WANs

  5. snaw

How to pronounce swan?

How to say swan in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of swan in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of swan in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of swan in a Sentence

  1. John Thomas:

    Our models it would probably change turnout by three points and that might just be it, barring a black swan event in some of those Congressional seats, with a Democrat imploding, a three-point shift [in turnout], is probably untenable.

  2. Jared Kushner:

    The more time I spend with Donald Trump working with Donald Trump, the more I realize I don't bet against Donald Trump instincts, donald Trump's a black swan. Donald Trump's been a black swan all of his life.

  3. Andrew Chin:

    The Swan River estuary is good bull shark habitat and this means people can come into close contact with them, unfortunately some encounters end badly and in this case with tragic results.

  4. Jared Kushner:

    Donald Trump's a black swan. Donald Trump's been a black swan all of his life.

  5. Thomas Doherty:

    I don't think the Queen's send off will mark the medium's swan song, if something like 9/11 were to happen again we'd all go to our TVs — drawn to the simultaneity and universality of the collective experience and the hypnotic power of the bigger image.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

swan#10000#10368#100000

Translations for swan

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

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"swan." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/swan>.

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