swine
A pig; pigs collectively.
Etymology
Modern English swine comes from Old English swīn "pig," from Proto-Germanic *swīną, from PIE *suH- meaning "pig." The root is remarkably widespread. Latin sūs "pig" (giving English swine through Germanic and sow through the same family), Greek hŷs or sŷs "pig," and Sanskrit sūkará- "pig" all descend from the same source. The word is among the oldest animal names in Indo-European, suggesting pig domestication or hunting was important to the original PIE speakers. In English, swine was the standard word for pig until the Norman Conquest brought the French-derived pork for the cooked meat — creating the famous social divide where Anglo-Saxon farmers raised swine while Norman lords ate pork. German Schwein, Dutch zwijn, and Swedish svin are direct cognates. The PIE root may be onomatopoeic, imitating the grunting sound pigs make.
The Journey: *suHnús → swine
*suH-
*swīną
swīn
swin, swine
swine
Cognates Across Languages
These words in other languages descend from the same PIE root *suHnús. They are not borrowings but independent inheritances from a common ancestor.
| Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Latin | sūs | pig |
| Greek | hŷs | pig |
| Sanskrit | sūkará- | pig |
| German | Schwein | pig |
| Old Norse | svín | pig |
| Old Church Slavonic | svinija | pig |
Did You Know?
After the Norman Conquest, English developed a split vocabulary: the Anglo-Saxon farmer raised swine (from PIE *suH-), while the Norman lord ate pork (from Latin porcus, also PIE). The same split produced cow/beef, sheep/mutton, and deer/venison — one of the most famous sociolinguistic phenomena in English history.