English [ edit ]
Etymology [ edit ]
From Middle English swarm , from Old English swearm ( “ swarm, multitude ” ) , from Proto-West Germanic *swarm , from Proto-Germanic *swarmaz ( “ swarm, dizziness ” ) , from Proto-Indo-European *swer- ( “ to buzz, hum ” ) . Cognate with Saterland Frisian Swoorm ( “ swarm ” ) , Dutch zwerm , German Schwarm , Danish sværm , Swedish svärm , Icelandic svarmur ( “ tumult, swarm ” ) , Latin susurrus ( “ whispering, humming ” ) , Lithuanian surma ( “ a pipe ” ) , Russian свире́ль ( svirélʹ , “ a pipe, reed ” ) .
The verb is from Middle English swarmen , swermen , from Old English swierman ( “ to swarm ” ) , from Proto-West Germanic *swarmijan , from Proto-Germanic *swarmijaną ( “ to swarm ” ) , from the noun. Cognate with Scots swairm , swerm ( “ to swarm ” ) , Dutch zwermen , German schwärmen , Danish sværme , Swedish svärma .
Pronunciation [ edit ]
swarm of locusts .
swarm (plural swarms )
A large number of insects , especially when in motion or (for bees ) migrating to a new colony .
1671 , John Milton , “Samson Agonistes, [ … ] .”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes , London: [ … ] J. M[ acock] for John Starkey [ … ] , →OCLC , page 10 , lines 19–21 :[ …] reſtleſs thoughts, that like a deadly ſwarm / Of Hornets arm'd [ …] ruſh upon me thronging,
A mass of people, animals or things in motion or turmoil .
a swarm of meteorites
1705 , J[oseph] Addison , Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703 , London: [ … ] Jacob Tonson , [ … ] , →OCLC :those prodigious swarms that had settled themselves in every part of it [Italy]
( computing ) A group of nodes sharing the same torrent in a BitTorrent network.
Derived terms [ edit ]
Translations [ edit ]
large number of insects
Afrikaans: swerm (af)
Albanian: shemë (sq)
Arabic: ثَوْل ( ṯawl )
Armenian: պարս (hy) ( pars )
Belarusian: рой m ( roj )
Bulgarian: рой (bg) m ( roj ) , роя́к (bg) m ( roják )
Catalan: eixam (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 群 (zh) ( qún )
Czech: roj (cs) m
Danish: sværm (da) c
Dutch: zwerm (nl)
Finnish: parvi (fi)
Franco-Provençal: èssem m
French: essaim (fr) m (flying insects), grouillement (fr) m (crawling insects)
Friulian: scuam m
Galician: enxame (gl) m
Georgian: ნაყარი ( naq̇ari )
German: Schwarm (de) m
Greek: σμήνος (el) n ( smínos )
Ancient: σμῆνος n ( smênos ) , ἑσμός m ( hesmós )
Hebrew: נְחִיל (he) m ( neḥíl )
Hungarian: raj (hu)
Hunsrik: Schwaarem m
Ido: esamo (io)
Irish: saithe f , scaoth f
Italian: sciame (it) m , nugolo (it) m
Japanese: 群れ (ja) ( むれ, mure ) , 雲霞 (ja) ( うんか, unka )
Korean: 떼 (ko) ( tte ) , 무리 (ko) ( muri )
Latin: exāmen n
Latvian: please add this translation if you can
Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
Luxembourgish: please add this translation if you can
Macedonian: рој m ( roj )
Maori: pōī
Mpade: mam
Norwegian:
Bokmål: sverm (no) m , bisverm m
Nynorsk: sverm m , bisverm m
Occitan: eissam (oc) m
Old East Slavic: рои m ( roi )
Persian: اِزدِحام (fa) ( ezdehâm )
Plautdietsch: Schwoarm n
Polish: rój (pl) m
Portuguese: enxame (pt) m , nuvem (pt) f ( in flight ) , correição (pt) f ( especially ants )
Romanian: roi (ro)
Russian: рой (ru) m ( roj )
Sardinian: schissura f
Scottish Gaelic: sgaoth m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: рој m
Roman: roj (sh) m
Sicilian: sciamu (scn) m , assamu (scn) m
Slovak: roj m
Slovene: roj (sl) m
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: roj m
Spanish: enjambre (es) , nube (es) f
Swahili: jana (sw)
Swedish: svärm (sv) c
Turkish: please add this translation if you can
Ukrainian: рій m ( rij )
Venetian: same m , samo m
Vilamovian: please add this translation if you can
Volapük: ( bees ) kümam (vo)
Welsh: haid f
Yiddish: please add this translation if you can
a mass of people or animals in turmoil
Bulgarian: ста́до (bg) n ( stádo )
Czech: dav (cs) m , hejno (cs) n , houf (cs) m , zástup (cs) m
Danish: sværm (da) c
Dutch: menigte (nl) , massa (nl)
Finnish: lauma (fi)
French: nuée (fr) f , essaim (fr) m
Galician: liorna f , barafunda f
German: Schwarm (de) m
Greek: στίφος (el) n ( stífos ) , εσμός (el) m ( esmós ) , ( people ) όχλος (el) m ( óchlos )
Hungarian: horda (hu) , sokaság (hu)
Japanese: 群衆 (ja) ( ぐんしゅう, gunshū )
Polish: mrowie (pl) n
Portuguese: multidão (pt) f , enxame (pt) m , turba (pt) f , turbamulta (pt) f , turbilhão (pt) m , tropel (pt) m , roda-viva f , barafunda (pt) f
Russian: ( people ) толпа́ (ru) f ( tolpá ) , ( birds ) ста́я (ru) f ( stája )
Scottish Gaelic: ( animals ) sgaoth m , ( people ) sluagh m
Spanish: multitud (es) , muchedumbre (es) , masa (es) , aglomeración (es) , barahúnda (es) f
Swahili: jana (sw)
Swedish: myller (sv) n , vimmel (sv)
Tamil: திரள் (ta) ( tiraḷ )
Ukrainian: на́товп m ( nátovp ) , юрба́ (uk) f ( jurbá )
Translations to be checked
swarm (third-person singular simple present swarms , present participle swarming , simple past and past participle swarmed )
( intransitive ) To move as a swarm.
1915 , G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer , New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company , →OCLC :There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy. Mail bags, so I understand, are being put on board. Stewards, carrying cabin trunks, swarm in the corridors.
( intransitive ) To teem , or be overrun with insects, people, etc.
1596 (date written; published 1633 ), Edmund Spenser , A Vewe of the Present State of Irelande [ … ] , Dublin: [ … ] Societie of Stationers, [ … ] , →OCLC ; republished as A View of the State of Ireland [ … ] (Ancient Irish Histories), Dublin: [ … ] Society of Stationers, [ … ] Hibernia Press, [ … ] [ b] y John Morrison, 1809 , →OCLC :Every place swarming with soldiers.
( transitive ) To fill a place as a swarm.
( transitive ) To overwhelm as by an opposing army.
2019 March 6, Drachinifel, 37:59 from the start, in The Battle of Samar (Alternate History) - Bring on the Battleships! [1] , archived from the original on 20 July 2022 :So, yeah. The overall conclusion of the big gunfight being that, if Yamato is able to tackle the Colorado s early, then the Japanese probably have a, maybe a sixty-to-sixty-five-percent chance of pulling this off... although you say "pulling it off", it's more a case of "the Japanese are the last battleship standing"; they tend to then just get swarmed by angry Fletcher s [ …]
To climb by gripping with arms and legs alternately.
1784 , William Coxe , Travels into Poland, Russia, Sweden and Denmark :At the top was placed a piece of money, as a prize for those who could swarm up and seize it.
1919 , W[illiam] Somerset Maugham , “chapter 55 ”, in The Moon and Sixpence , [ New York, N.Y.] : Grosset & Dunlap Publishers [ … ] , →OCLC :She called out, and a boy came running along. He swarmed up a tree, and presently threw down a ripe nut. Ata pierced a hole in it, and the doctor took a long, refreshing draught.
To breed multitudes.
1667 , John Milton , “Book IX ”, in Paradise Lost. [ … ] , London: [ … ] [Samuel Simmons ], [ … ] , →OCLC ; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: [ … ] , London: Basil Montagu Pickering [ … ] , 1873 , →OCLC , lines 526–527 :Not ſo thick ſwarm'd once the Soil / Bedropt with blood of Gorgon ,
Translations [ edit ]
to teem, or be overrun with insects
to fill a place as a swarm
to climb by gripping with arms and legs
Translations to be checked
See also [ edit ]
Anagrams [ edit ]
Middle English [ edit ]
Alternative forms [ edit ]
Etymology [ edit ]
From Old English swearm , from Proto-Germanic *swarmaz .
Pronunciation [ edit ]
swarm (plural swarmes )
A swarm (large, moving group of bees)
( rare ) A large group of people.
Derived terms [ edit ]
Descendants [ edit ]
References [ edit ]