zwaaien

16th century. Predominantly considered an alteration of waaien (“to wave, blow”) after certain words for swinging motions with initial zw-. Specifically perhaps a merger of waaien with zwenken (“to sway, swing”). Another theory derives it from rare Middle Dutch swaden, swayen (“to scythe, swing a scythe”), which is cognate with English swath. Relation with Old Norse sveigja, whence probably English sway, is unlikely as it would require a highly irregular phonetic development in Dutch.

• IPA^(key): /ˈzʋaːi̯.ə(n)/

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• Hyphenation: zwaai‧en
• Rhymes: -aːi̯ən

zwaaien

1. (intransitive, transitive) to sway, to wave
2. (transitive) to brandish

• Afrikaans: swaai