The 8008 695

concerning 'swive'

A Concise edition (as stated by the OP) may have been bowdlerized. The full edition has not.

In order to avoid confusion, the Concise Oxford English Dictionary is usually given the short form 'COED' (it was not necessary to do this in the original post, where the name was spelled out almost in full), whereas the full one is often referred to as the 'OED' (sometimes with and sometimes without a suffixed numeral indicating the edition).

There is also an SOED. My copy of the 1993 edition (since superseded by a newer one) still has an entry for 'swive' which is pretty much the same as that in the full edition, but omits the citations and much of the discussion of the etymology.

So, the OED has not been 'PCed' in this instance. Indeed, the entry for 'swive' is quite comprehensive:

Also 4ö5 swyve, 5ö6 swyfe, 6 swiff, swhyve; 5 (Sc.) pa. pple. swyffit, swywit, 6 (Sc.) pa. tense swiffit, swewyt. app. representing, with change of conjugation, and a specialized meaning not found in the cognate words, the OE. str. vb. sw’fan, pa. tense sw‡f, pa. pple. -swifen to move in a course, sweep.

OE. sw’fan corresponds to OFris. sw”va to be uncertain, ON. sv’fa to rove, ramble, drift:÷*swWban, f. Teut. swWb-: swaib-: swib- (cf. OHG. sweib swinging, sweib™n, MHG. schweiben to sway, hover, OFris. swif (?) sudden movement, vibration, ON. svif turn, veering of a ship, OHG. sweb�n, MHG. sweben, G. schweben to hover; see also swafe, swayve).

Definitions and citations follow on from there.

Giles