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Schwarm - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Old High German swarm, from Proto-Germanic *swarmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *swer- (to buzz, hum). Compare Dutch zwerm, English swarm, Danish sværm. The sense “crush” is a backformation from the verb schwärmen; see there.

  • IPA(key): /ʃvaʁm/, [ʃʋaʁm], [ʃʋaɐ̯m], [ʃʋaːm]

Schwarm m (strong, genitive Schwarmes or Schwarms, plural Schwärme)

  1. swarm of insects; flock of birds; school of fish
    • 1921, Elisabeth von Heyking, Die Trommel, in Weberin Schuld, G. Grote'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 8:

      Dazu zirpten unzählige Zikaden, schillernde Libellen schossen surrend durch die Luft, […], Mücken summten in Schwärmen, […]

      In addition countless cicadas chirped, iridescent dragonflies shot buzzingly through the air, […], mosquitoes hummed in swarms, […]
  2. crush; beloved; object of one’s (unfulfilled) love

Declension of Schwarm [masculine, strong]