different between yell vs swear

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /j?l/
• Rhymes: -?l

Etymology 1

From Middle English ?ellen, yellen, from Old English ?iellan, from Proto-Germanic *gellan?. Cognate with Saterland Frisian gälje (“to yell”), Dutch gillen (“to yell”), German Low German gellen (“to yell”), German gellen (“to yell”).

Verb

yell (third-person singular simple present yells, present participle yelling, simple past and past participle yelled)

1. (intransitive) shout; holler; make a loud sound with the voice.
2. (transitive) to convey by shouting

   He yelled directions to the party from the car.

3. (slang) to tell someone off (in a loud and angry manner)

   If I come home late again, my dad is gonna yell at me.

Usage notes

To yell at someone is as in a hostile manner, while to yell to someone means to speak loudly so as to be heard.

Synonyms

• (shout): call, cry, holler, shout
• See also Thesaurus:shout

Derived terms

Related terms

• gale
• yelp

Translations

Noun

yell (plural yells)

1. A shout.
2. A phrase to be shouted.
   • 1912, The Michigan Alumnus (volume 18, page 152)

     After the dinner a general reception was held in the spacious parlors of the hotel during which the occasion was very much enlivened with the old college songs and old college yells, which transported us all in mind and feelings […]

Translations

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Scots yeld (“ceasing to give milk”).

Adjective

yell (not comparable)

1. (Ulster) dry (of cow)

Anagrams

• Lyle

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English yell.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?j?l/
• Hyphenation: yell
• Rhymes: -?l

Noun

yell m (plural yells)

1. yell, a slogan to be shouted, especially in sports or games (e.g. by players, cheerleaders or the audience)

Related terms

• gil
• gillen
• yellen

Middle English

Noun

yell

1. Alternative form of ?elle

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /sw??/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /sw??/
• Rhymes: -??(?)

Etymology 1

From Middle English sweren, swerien, from Old English swerian (“to swear, take an oath of office”), from Proto-West Germanic *swarjan, from Proto-Germanic *swarjan? (“to speak, swear”), from Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“to swear”).

Cognate with West Frisian swarre (“to swear”), Saterland Frisian swera (“to swear”), Dutch zweren (“to swear, vow”), Low German swören (“to swear”), sweren, German schwören (“to swear”), Danish sværge, Swedish svära (“to swear”), Icelandic sverja (“to swear”), Russian ????? (svara, “quarrel”). Also cognate to Albanian var (“to hang, consider, to depend from”) through Proto-Indo-European.

The original sense in all Germanic languages is “to take an oath”. The sense “to use bad language” developed in Middle English and is based on the Christian prohibition against swearing in general (cf. Matthew 5:33-37) and invoking God’s name in particular (i.e. frequent swearing was considered similar to the use of obscene words).

Verb

swear (third-person singular simple present swears, present participle swearing, simple past swore or (archaic) sware, past participle sworn or yswore)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To take an oath, to promise.

   • The Bat—they called him the Bat. […]. He'd never been in stir, the bulls had never mugged him, he didn't run with a mob, he played a lone hand, and fenced his stuff so that even the fence couldn't swear he knew his face.

2. (transitive, intransitive) To use offensive, profane, or obscene language.

Usage notes

• In sense 1, this is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:swear word
• See also Thesaurus:swear

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From the above verb, or from Middle English sware, from Old English swaru, from Proto-Germanic *swar?.

Noun

swear (plural swears)

1. A swear word.
   • 1892, Robert Louis Stevenson, The Beach of Falesá

     You might think it funny to hear this Kanaka girl come out with a big swear. No such thing. There was no swearing in her — no, nor anger; she was beyond anger, and meant the word simple and serious.

Etymology 3

From Middle English swere, swer, swar, from Old English sw?r, sw?r (“heavy, heavy as a burden, of great weight, oppressive, grievous, painful, unpleasant, sad, feeling or expressing grief, grave, slow, dull, sluggish, slothful, indolent, inactive from weakness, enfeebled, weak”), from Proto-West Germanic *sw?r, from Proto-Germanic *sw?raz (“heavy”), from Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“heavy”).

Cognate with West Frisian swier (“heavy”), Dutch zwaar (“heavy, hard, difficult”), German schwer (“heavy, hard, difficult”), Swedish svår (“heavy, hard, severe”), Latin s?rius (“earnest, grave, solemn, serious”) and Albanian varrë (“wound, plague”).

Alternative forms

• sweer, sweir, swere

Adjective

swear (comparative swearer or more swear, superlative swearest or most swear)

1. (Britain dialectal) Heavy.
2. (Britain dialectal) Top-heavy; too high.
3. (Britain dialectal) Dull; heavy; lazy; slow; reluctant; unwilling.
4. (Britain dialectal) Niggardly.
5. (Britain dialectal) A lazy time; a short rest during working hours (especially field labour); a siesta.

Derived terms

Verb

swear (third-person singular simple present swears, present participle swearing, simple past and past participle sweared)

1. (Britain dialectal) To be lazy; rest for a short while during working hours.

References

• swear at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• resaw, sawer, sware, wares, wears