swearing
English
Etymology
From Middle English sweryng; equivalent to swear + -ing.
Pronunciation
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -ɛəɹɪŋ
Verb
swearing
- present participle of swear
- 2013 June 14, Sam Leith, “Where the profound meets the profane”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 37:
- Swearing doesn't just mean what we now understand by "dirty words". It is entwined, in social and linguistic history, with the other sort of swearing: vows and oaths. Consider for a moment the origins of almost any word we have for bad language – "profanity", "curses", "oaths" and "swearing" itself.
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Noun
swearing (countable and uncountable, plural swearings)
- The act of swearing, or making an oath.
- 1693, Daniel Defoe, An Essay upon Projects, London: […] R. R. for Tho[mas] Cockerill, […], published 1697:
- No man is believed a jot the more for all the asseverations, damnings, and swearings he makes.
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Translations
the act of making an oath
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Anagrams
- Wasinger, Wiganers, Winegars, resawing, wearings