The origin of words: SWELL

Swell dates back to before the year 900. The Old English verb swellan, which became swellen in Middle English, meant ‘to grow or make bigger,’ and can be traced back to the Proto-Germanic swelnan, though its origin before then is unknown. It is related to the Old Saxonswellan, the Old Norse svella, the Old Frisian swella, the Middle Dutch swellen, the Dutch zwellen, the Old High German swellan and the German schwellen, all of which also mean ‘to swell,’ as well as the Gothic ufswalleins, which meant ‘pride.’ It has been used figuratively to describe emotions since the mid-15th century, and music rising since the mid-18th century. The noun comes from the verb, and dates back to around the year 1200. It has been used to describe rises in the level of the sea or other bodies of water since around the year 1600, and figuratively, about music, since the early 19th century. The adjective, originally meaning ‘fashionably dressed or prominent person,’ dates back to the early 19th century, and meaning ‘good or excellent’ in the US, since the late 19th century. Its use as an interjection was first recorded in the 1930s.