Swine
/swaɪn/noun
A pig, especially one raised for meat; also used as an insulting term for a contemptible person.
Did you know?In Old English, swīn simply meant a pig, and the word is so old that its deeper PIE root also lives on in surprising animal names across Germanic languages.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*su-
“Pig, swine”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*swinan
“Pig, swine”
Old English
OE
swīn
“Pig, swine”
Middle English
ME
swine
“Pig; a pig-like animal; also a contemptible person”
Modern English
English
swine
“A pig; an insulting term for a disgusting or contemptible person”