Sweden (etymology)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Sweden was originally a plural form of
Swede and is a so-called "back-formation", from
Old English Sweoðeod, which meant "people of the
Swedes" (
Old Norse Svíþjóð,
Latin Suetidi).
This word is derived from
Sweon/
Sweonas (
Old Norse Sviar,
Latin Suiones).
As the name for the country itself,
Sweden is borrowed from
Dutch Zweden, which is probably the dative case of
Zwede.
It appeared in
Scots during the 17th century in forms such as
Swethin and
Swadne.
Before this, Sweden was called
Swedeland, and in
Old English it was called
Sweoland (see
Svealand) or
Sweorice (
Old Norse Sviariki, which is the origin of the modern Swedish name for the country,
Sverige).
There are two theories for the Swedish name for Sweden, Sverige. The general opinion is that it is a phonological alteration of Svearike-> Sverike->Sverige, according to the same law as taka-> taga and baka->bagare (this alteration has continued and the name is nowadays pronounced [sverjə]). There is, however, an alternative hypothesis, first proposed by Ivar Modéer, and later popularized by the Swedish author Jan Guillou that the form is a loan from the Danish form of Sverike (Sverige).
See also
