Word of the Day
for Wednesday,
June 12, 2013
Sward \swawrd\, noun:
1. the grassy surface of land; turf.
2. a stretch of turf; a growth of grass.
2. a stretch of turf; a growth of grass.
verb:
1. to cover with sward or turf.
2. to become covered with sward.
1. to cover with sward or turf.
2. to become covered with sward.
One fair half-day in
the July of 1800, by good luck, he was employed, partly out of charity, by one
of the keepers, to trim the sward
in an oval enclosure within St. James' Park...
-- Herman Melville, Israel Potter, 1855
-- Herman Melville, Israel Potter, 1855
The arching trees gave
no cover, so Edward skidded into the woodland behind the tall guardian beeches
on the other side of the grove and fell down, promptly into the long grass near
to the edge of the sward...
-- Iris Murdoch, The Good Apprentice, 1985
-- Iris Murdoch, The Good Apprentice, 1985
Sward comes from the Proto-Germanic root swarthu- meaning
"skin" or "rind." While in Old English sward
referred to the skin of an animal, by the 1400s it started referring to the
outer layer of the earth where grass grows.
Thanks to: www.dictionary.com
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