swift

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Fast; quick; rapid.

   swift action

2. 2
   adv

   Swiftly.

   Light boats sail swift, though greater hulks draw deep.

3. 3
   noun

   Any of certain lizards of the genus Sceloporus.

   As a guide to start your collection we'd suggest either iguanas, tejus, swifts, basilisks, horned toads or alligator lizards.

4. 4
   noun

   A moth of the family Hepialidae, swift moth, ghost moth.

   Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.

5. 5
   name

   A surname transferred from the nickname, originally a nickname for a swift or quick person.

   Taylor Swift has countless Grammys and American Music Awards, but this new honor will be a first for the global pop star.

6. 6
   name

   A general-purpose multi-paradigm compiled programming language introduced by Apple Inc. in 2014.

   If anyone outside Apple saw Swift coming, they certainly weren't making any public predictions.

7. 7
   name

   Alternative letter-case form of SWIFT (“Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication”).

   That year [2012], Iran was cut off from the Swift global payment system.

8. 8
   adj

   moving very fast

Etymology

From Middle English swift, from Old English swift (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Germanic *swiftaz (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)weyp- (“to twist; wind around”). Cognate with Icelandic svipta (“to pull quickly”), Old English swīfan (“to revolve, sweep, wend, intervene”). More at swivel.