Swipe
/swaɪp/noun
To strike or move something with a sweeping motion, or to take something quickly and casually.
Did you know?The verb is first recorded in the 17th century with the sense of a sweeping blow, and the modern phone gesture is a much later metaphor from that same motion.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*swep-
“to sweep, sweep away”
Old English
OE
swīpan
“to sweep, brush, or strike with a sweeping motion”
Middle English
ME
swipen
“to move or strike swiftly in a sweeping way”
17th Century
English
swipe
“a sweeping blow or stroke”
20th Century
English
swipe
“to pass a card or finger across a surface; later, to steal casually”