# swift
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English swift, from Old English swift (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Germanic *swiftaz (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)weyp- (“to twist; wind around”). Cognate with Icelandic svipta (“to pull quickly”), Old English swīfan (“to revolve, sweep, wend, intervene”). More at swivel.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /swɪft/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Homophone: Swift
* Rhymes: -ɪft

### Adjective

swift (comparative swifter, superlative swiftest)
* Fast; quick; rapid.
** 2011 November 12, “International friendly: England 1-0 Spain”, in BBC Sport‎:Spain were provoked into a response and Villa almost provided a swift equaliser when he rounded Hart but found the angle too acute and could only hit the side-netting.
* Capable of moving at high speeds.

#### Derived terms

* overswift, over-swift
* swiftboating, swift-boating, swift boating
* swiftboat, swift-boat, swift boat, Swift Boat
* Swift Current
* swift-flowing
* swift-flying
* swiftfooted, swift-footed
* swift fox (Vulpes velox)
* swift fruit bat (Thoopterus nigrescens)
* swift half
* swifthanded, swift-handed
* swiftie
* swiftly
* swiftness
* swift parrot (Lathamus discolor)
* swift tern
* swift-thinking
* swiftwater
* swiftwing

#### Related terms

* swiftfootedness
* swift-footedness
* swifthandedness
* swift-handedness

#### Translations
### Noun

swift (plural swifts)
* A small plain-colored bird of the family Apodidae that resembles a swallow and is noted for its rapid flight.
    Synonyms: needletail, spinetail, swiftlet
* Any of certain lizards of the genus Sceloporus.
    Synonyms: fence lizard, spiny lizard
** 1965 March, Boys' Life, page 52:As a guide to start your collection we'd suggest either iguanas, tejus, swifts, basilisks, horned toads or alligator lizards.
* (entomology) A moth of the family Hepialidae, swift moth, ghost moth.
** 2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, pages 206–7:Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.
* (entomology) Any of various fast-flying hesperiid butterflies.
* (textiles) A light, collapsible reel used to hold a hank of yarn in order to wind off skeins or balls.
* The main cylinder of a carding-machine.
* (obsolete) The current of a stream.

#### Derived terms

* Lyell's swift
* rice swift
* swift brick
* swiftless
* swiftlet
* swiftlike

#### Translations
### Adverb

swift (comparative more swift, superlative most swift)
* (obsolete, poetic) Swiftly.
** c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC,:Light boats sail swift, though greater hulks draw deep.
** 1793, Robert Southey, Lord William:Ply swift and strong the oar.

#### Synonyms

* swith

#### Derived terms

* African swift (Apus barbatus)
* alpine swift (Tachymarptis melba)
* Andean swift (Aeronautes andecolus)
* ashy-tailed swift (Chaetura andrei)
* band-rumped swift (Chaetura spinicaudus)
* Bates's swift (Apus batesi)
* black swift (Cypseloides niger)
* Blyth's swift (Apus leuconyx)
* Bradfield's swift (Apus bradfieldi)
* chimney swift (Chaetura pelagica)
* common swift (Apus apus)
* Cook's swift (Apus cooki)
* Costa Rican swift (Chaetura fumosa)
* crested swift (Hemiprocnidae spp.)
* dark-rumped swift (Apus acuticauda)
* emerald swift (Sceloporus malachiticus)
* Eurasian swift, European swift (Apus apus)
* fence swift (Sceloporus undulatis)
* Fernando Po swift (Apus sladeniae)
* Forbes-Watson's swift (Apus berliozi)
* fork-tailed swift (Apus spp.)
* ghost swift (Hepialidae spp.)
* great dusky swift (Cypseloides senex)
* great swift (Hepialus humuli)
* grey-rumped swift (Chaetura cinereiventris)
* little swift (Apus affinis)
* mottled swift (Tachymarptis aequatorialis)
* needle-tailed swift (Hirundapus caudacutus)
* Nyanza swift (Apus niansae)
* orange swift (Triodia sylvina)
* Pacific swift (Apus pacificus)
* pallid swift (Apus pallidus)
* palm swift (Cypsiurus spp.)
* pine swift (Sceloporus undulatus)
* sagebrush swift (Sceloporus graciosus)
* Salim Ali's swift (Apus salimali)
* scarce swift (Schoutedenapus myoptilus)
* Schouteden's swift (Schoutedenapus schoutedeni)
* Sick's swift (Chaetura meridionalis)
* sooty swift (Cypseloides fumigatus)
* spine-tailed swift (Hirundapus caudacutus)
* spot-fronted swift (Cypseloides cherriei)
* swiftlet (Apodidae spp.)
* swift moth (Hepialidae spp.)
* tree swift, treeswift (Hemiprocnidae spp.)
* white-chested swift (Cypseloides lemosi)
* white-chinned swift (Cypseloides cryptus)
* white-collared swift (Streptoprocne zonaris)
* white-naped swift (Streptoprocne semicollaris)
* white-throated swift (Aeronautes saxatalis)
* white-tipped swift (Aeronautes montivagus)

## Old English
### Etymology

From the verb swīfan.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /swift/

### Adjective

swift (comparative swiftra, superlative swiftost)
* swift, quick

#### Derived terms

* swiftlīċe
* swiftnes

#### Descendants

* English: swift