swamp

Definition

An area of wet (water-saturated), spongy (soft) land, often with trees, generally a rich ecosystem for certain plants and animals but ill-suited for many agricultural purposes. (A type of wetland. Compare marsh, bog, fen.)

Etymology

Early attestations (starting in 1624) are from North America, but the term was probably in local use in Britain earlier. The etymology is not entirely certain; it is probably a fusion of Middle English swam (“swamp, muddy pool, bog, marsh”, also “fungus, mushroom”) — from Old English swamm (“mushroom, fungus, sponge”), from Proto-West Germanic *swamm, from Proto-Germanic *swambaz, *swammaz — and Middle English sompe (“marsh, morass”), from either Middle Dutch somp, sump (“marsh, swamp”) or Middle Low German sump (“marsh, swamp”) (from Old Saxon *sump (“swamp, marsh”)), both from Proto-West Germanic *sump, from Proto-Germanic *sumpaz. *Swambaz, *swammaz and *sumpaz are likely related to each other, but it is unclear whether they are of Indo-European origin or are substrate words or wanderworts. The word has alternatively been suggested to be a borrowing from Dutch zwamp (“swamp, marsh, fen”). Other cognates include Middle Low German swamp (“sponge, mushroom”), Dutch zomp (“swamp, lake, marshy place”), German Low German Sump (“swamp, bog, marsh”), German Sumpf (“swamp”), Swedish sump (“swamp”). Related also to Dutch zwam (“fungus, punk, tinder”), German Schwamm (“mushroom, fungus, sponge”), Swedish svamp (“mushroom, fungus, sponge”), Icelandic svampur, sveppur (“fungus”), Gothic 𐍃𐍅𐌿𐌼𐍃𐌻 (swumsl, “a ditch”). Related to sump, swim.

Example Sentences

• "Some small Marshes and Swamps there are, but more profitable than hurtfull."
• "The vast swamps of Southern Ontario proved a grim nightmare to the construction gangs. Treacherous and seemingly bottomless, the swamps swallowed thousands of tons of timber and debris, yet still afforded no firm surface on which the track could be laid."
• "We two...in this swamp of iniquity...together we can bring redress to an unjust world."

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