sway

Meanings

Noun

• The act of swaying; a swaying motion; a swing or sweep of a weapon.
• A rocking or swinging motion.
• Influence, weight, or authority that inclines to one side
• Preponderance; turn or cast of balance.
• Rule; dominion; control; power.
• A switch or rod used by thatchers to bind their work.
• The maximum amplitude of a vehicle's lateral motion.

Verb

• To move or swing from side to side; or backward and forward; to rock.
• To move or wield with the hand; to swing; to wield.
• To influence or direct by power, authority, persuasion, or by moral force; to rule; to govern; to guide. Compare persuade.
• To cause to incline or swing to one side, or backward and forward; to bias; to turn; to bend; warp.
• To hoist (a mast or yard) into position.
• To be drawn to one side by weight or influence; to lean; to incline.
• To have weight or influence.
• To bear sway; to rule; to govern.

Origin

• Earlier swey, from Middle English sweyen, from Old Norse sveigja, from Proto-Germanic *swaigijaną (compare Saterland Frisian swooie ("to swing, wave, wobble"), Dutch zwaaien, Dutch Low Saxon sweuen, from Proto-Indo-European *sweh₁- (compare Lithuanian svaĩgti, the second element of Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬌𐬭𐬌𐬱𐬑𐬎𐬀𐬑𐬙𐬀, Sanskrit स्वजते.
• The noun derived from the verb.