Swelter
/ˈswɛltər/noun
To suffer from oppressive heat or to be made uncomfortably hot.
Did you know?Swelter is related to Old English sweltan, meaning “to die,” so the word originally carried the eerie sense of heat so intense it feels like life is draining out of you.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*swel-
“to die, perish”
Old English
OE
sweltan
“to die, perish”
Middle English
ME
swelten
“to become faint, languish; later, to become unbearably hot”
Late Middle English
ME
swelteren
“to suffer or make suffer from heat”
Modern English
English
swelter
“to be oppressively hot; to suffer from heat”