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Teach vs Swear - What's the difference?

teach | swear | Related terms |

In intransitive terms the difference between teach and swear

is that teach is to pass on knowledge, especially as one's profession; to act as a teacher while swear is to use offensive language.

As verbs the difference between teach and swear

is that teach is to show (someone) the way; to guide, conduct while swear is to take an oath.

As nouns the difference between teach and swear

is that teach is teacher while swear is a swearword.

As a proper noun Teach

is nickname for a teacher.

As an adjective swear is

heavy.

teach

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) techen, from (etyl) . More at (l).

Verb

  • To show (someone) the way; to guide, conduct.
  • * :
  • So thus within a whyle as they thus talked the nyghte passed / and the daye shone / and thenne syre launcelot armed hym / and took his hors / and they taught hym to the Abbaye and thyder he rode within the space of two owrys
  • (label) To pass on knowledge to.
  • (label) To pass on knowledge, especially as one's profession; to act as a teacher.
  • (label) To cause to learn or understand.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8 , passage=The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again;
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author= Rob Dorit
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= Making Life from Scratch , passage=Deep Blue taught' us a great deal about the power of the human mind precisely because it could not reproduce the intuitive and logical leaps of Kasparov’s mind. A truly synthetic cell, built from scratch or even from preexisting components, will be a cell without ancestry, and it, too, will ' teach us a great deal about the underlying complexities of life without actually reproducing them.}}
    Synonyms
    * (sense) educate, instruct
    Antonyms
    * (sense) learn
    Derived terms
    * * teacher * teaching

    Etymology 2

    (probably clipping)

    Noun

    (es)
  • (pejorative) teacher
  • swear

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) sweren, swerien, from (etyl) through Proto-Indo-European.

    Verb

  • To take an oath.
  • *
  • *:The Bat—they called him the Bat.. He'd never been in stir, the bulls had never mugged him, he didn't run with a mob, he played a lone hand, and fenced his stuff so that even the fence couldn't swear he knew his face.
  • (lb) To use offensive language.
  • Synonyms
    * See also
    Usage notes
    * In sense 1, this is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . See
    Synonyms
    * See also
    Derived terms
    * swear by * swear like a trooper * swear on a stack of Bibles * swear out * swear to God * swear word

    Etymology 2

    From the above verb, or from (etyl) sware, from (etyl) swaru, from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A swearword.
  • Etymology 3

    From (etyl) swer, swar, from (etyl) .

    Alternative forms

    * (l), (l), (l)

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Heavy.
  • Top-heavy; too high.
  • Dull; heavy; lazy; slow; reluctant; unwilling.
  • Niggardly.
  • A lazy time; a short rest during working hours (especially field labour); a siesta.
  • Derived terms
    * (l) * (l) * (l)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To be lazy; rest for a short while during working hours.