swimming

English

A freestyle swimming stroke animation

Pronunciation

Wikiversity

• IPA^(key): /ˈswɪmɪŋ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪmɪŋ

Etymology 1

From Middle English swymmynge. Equivalent to swim (“to move through water”, verb) +‎ -ing (suffix forming gerunds).

Noun

swimming (countable and uncountable, plural swimmings)

1. The act or art of sustaining and propelling the body in water.
   • 1909, Swami Rama Tirtha, In Woods of God-realization: The pole star within, 7th edition:

     The daring adventures of the American people in their scalings of the Alps and the Rocky mountains and in their swimmings across the Niagara rapids […]

Related terms

• artistic swimming
• free-swimming
• ice swimming
• oblique-swimming triplefin
• swimming bath
• swimming bell
• swimming cap
• swimming costume
• swimming crab
• swimming goggles
• swimming hole
• swimming pool
• swimming pool acid
• swimming shorts
• swimming stone
• swimming trunks
• synchronised swimming, synchronized swimming

 

Translations

human activity of moving oneself through water

• Arabic: سِبَاحَة f (sibāḥa)
• Armenian: լող (hy) sg (loġ)
• Aromanian: nutare f
• Assamese: সাঁতোৰ (xãtür), সাঁতোৰা (xãtüra)
• Belarusian: пла́ванне n (plávannje)
• Bulgarian: плуване n (pluvane)
• Catalan: natació (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 游泳 (jau⁴ wing⁶)

  Hokkien: 游泳 (zh-min-nan) (iû-éng)

  Mandarin: 游泳 (zh) (yóuyǒng)

• Czech: plavání (cs) n
• Danish: svømning (da) c
• Dutch: zwemmen (nl)
• Finnish: uinti (fi), uiminen (fi)
• French: natation (fr) f, nage (fr) f
• German: Schwimmen (de) n
• Greek: κολύμβηση (el) f (kolýmvisi)
• Hebrew: שחיה (he) f (s'chiyah)
• Hungarian: úszás (hu)
• Icelandic: sund (is) n
• Italian: nuoto (it) m
• Japanese: 水泳 (ja) (すいえい, suiei)
• Korean: 수영(水泳) (ko) (suyeong)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: مەلەوانی (melewanî)

• Macedonian: пливање n (plivanje)
• Malay: berenang (ms)
• Malayalam: നീന്തൽ (ml) (nīntal)
• Ngarrindjeri: wrukun
• Norman: nagegie f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: svømming (no) m or f

  Nynorsk: symjing f

• Odia: ପହଁରା (or) (pahãrā)
• Old English: sund n
• Ottoman Turkish: یوزمه (yüzme)
• Persian: شنا (fa) (šenâ)
• Polish: pływactwo (pl) n, pływanie (pl) n
• Portuguese: natação (pt) f
• Quechua: wamp'uy
• Romanian: înot (ro)
• Russian: пла́вание (ru) n (plávanije)
• Spanish: natación (es) f
• Swedish: simning (sv) c
• Turkish: yüzme (tr)
• Ukrainian: пла́вання n (plávannja)
• Vietnamese: bơi lội (vi)
• Walloon: naiviaedje (wa) m, bagnaedje, nedjaedje
• Welsh: nofio (cy)
• Wiradjuri: bambinya
• Yiddish: שוווּם m (shvum)

Etymology 2

From swim (“to be dizzy”, verb) +‎ -ing (suffix forming gerunds).

Noun

swimming (countable and uncountable, plural swimmings)

1. The state of being dizzy or in vertigo.
   • 1602, A New and Short Defense of Tabacco: with the effectes of the same: and of the right vse thereof, London: Clement Knight, “Rule”, unnumbered page:

     Then I take my pipe of Tabacco, sitting close by a warme fire, the space of halfe an houre and more, vntill the giddinesse and swimming in my head be past, and the medicine also haue done it feate : then I vse to gargle my mouth with a cuppe of beere, well warmed with a toste.

   • 1624, Philip Barrough, The Method of Physick, Contaning the Cavses, Signes, and Cvres of Inward Diseases in Mans Body, From the Head to the Foote: […], 6th edition, London: Richard Field, page 134:

     But when the worms are killed with the aforesaid medicines, you must driue them out without delay : for there proceedeth a vicious exhalation from them, which both destroyeth appetite, and hurteth digestion, and being lifted vpward, it causeth swimmings, and other euils.

   • 1640, John Parkinson, Theatrum Botanicum: The Theater of Plants. Or, an Herball of Large Extent: […], London, page 552:

     [The Speedwell] doth also wonderfully helpe the memory, and to ease all turnings and swimmings, and other paines of the head, and as it is sayd helpeth women to become fruitfull, that were barren[.]

   • 1869, William Chambers, Robert Chambers, Chambers's Miscellany of Instructive & Entertaining Tracts, page 2:

     Swimmings of the head and intestinal pains seemed the prelude of dissolution.

Translations

a giddy sensation

• Bulgarian: световъртеж (bg) m (svetovǎrtež)
• Dutch: duizeling (nl) f
• Greek: ζάλη (el) f (záli), ίλιγγος (el) m (ílingos)
• Maori: pōnitiniti
• Old English: swima m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Welsh: ^{(please verify)} nofio (cy) m

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

swimming

1. present participle and gerund of swim