swine
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
a pig, especially when talking about farming or animals in a group.
a pig, specifically a member of the family Suidae; often used collectively in agricultural or technical contexts.
Simple“The farmer kept a large herd of swine in the back field.”
In context“Veterinary researchers monitored the local swine population for signs of the new respiratory virus that had affected nearby farms.”
UsageThe plural form is usually 'swine', though 'swines' is occasionally seen in informal derogatory use.
- 02 C1 Advanced
a very cruel, selfish, or unpleasant person.
a contemptible, unpleasant, or disgusting person; used as a harsh derogatory epithet.
Simple“He treated his staff like garbage; he really was a total swine.”
In context“The antagonist was portrayed as a manipulative swine who would betray his closest allies for a small profit.”
Teacher's tipThis is a strong insult in British English, though it feels slightly old-fashioned compared to modern swear words.
“Feral swine are found in at least 35 states in the U.S.”
“In recent years in Russia, African swine fever wiped out enormous numbers of wild boar, a tiger’s favourite prey, causing many to target human settlements.”
From Middle English swyn, swin, from Old English swīn, from Proto-West Germanic swīn, from Proto-Germanic swīną, from an adjectival form of Proto-Indo-European *suH- (“pig”). Cognates Related to West Frisian swyn, Low German Swien, Dutch zwijn, German Schwein, Danish and Swedish svin, and more distantly to Polish świnia, Russian свинья́ (svinʹjá), Latin sūinus, Latin sūs, Ancient Greek ὗς (hûs), Persian خوک (xuk).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.