Wordwyrt

sweeper

/ˈswipə/SWEE-pur
UK form converted from the US by rule · unchecked
/ˈswipɚ/SWEE-pur

Meaningone who sweeps

Common meaning: a person or machine that sweeps

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Journey through time

  1. Proto-Indo-European*swap-‘move swiftly, cast, throw, strew’source
  2. Old Englishswāpan‘move with a broad stroke’sourceB&T
  3. Middle Englishswepen‘sweep’source
  4. Englishsweep‘clean a surface with a brush’
  5. Englishformed in English from sweepsweeper‘a person or machine that sweeps’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Formed in English from sweep + -er.

Dictionary: Skeat (1898), SWEEP, p.616 · scan

Source words

  • swāpan Old English · source word “move with a broad stroke”

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