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Added 10 October 2026

swelter

/ˈswɛl.tə/ verb

verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about swelter at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

To suffer terribly from intense heat.
To perspire greatly from heat.
To cause to faint, to overpower, as with heat.

noun

Intense heat.
The summer swelter did not relent until late in September, most years.

Origin

From Middle English swelteren, frequentative form of Middle English swelten (“to die; faint”), from Old English sweltan (“to die”), from Proto-West Germanic *sweltan, from Proto-Germanic *sweltaną (“to die”), from Proto-Indo-European *swel- (“to smolder; burn”), equivalent to swelt + -er (frequentative suffix).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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