swete

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French souhaiter (wish).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /swete/

Verb

swete

  1. to wish

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English swēte, swōt.

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈsweːt(ə)/, /ˈswoːt(ə)/, /ˈsoːt(ə)/

Adjective

swete

  1. sweet, pleasant-tasting
  2. sweet in smell
    • a. 1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Knight's Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, lines 3690–3691:
      But first he cheweth greyn and lycorys / To smellen sweete, er he hadde kembd his heer.
      Though first he chews spices and licorice, / To smell sweet before he'd combed his hair.
  3. pleasant, likeable
  4. loved, dear, precious
Derived terms
Descendants
  • English: sweet
  • Scots: sweet, sweit, swet
  • Yola: sweet
References

Noun

swete (plural swetes)

  1. sweetness in taste or smell
  2. pleasantness, euphoria, bliss
References

Etymology 2

From Old English swāt, from Proto-Germanic *swait-. The vocalism was sometimes influenced by swǣtan.

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈswɛːt/, /ˈswɔːt/
  • (Northern) IPA(key): /ˈswɑːt/

Noun

swete (plural swetes)

  1. blood
  2. sweat, perspiration
Descendants

Etymology 3

Noun

swete

  1. alternative form of suet

Old English

Alternative forms

  • swœ̄te, swoete

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *swōtī, from Proto-Germanic *swōtuz, from Proto-Indo-European *sweh₂dus.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈsweː.te/

Adjective

swēte (superlative swētest)

  1. sweet
  2. cute

Usage notes

  • The sense "cute" is not clearly attested. However, it probably existed, since it occurs in both German süß and Icelandic sætur.

Declension

Derived terms

Descendants