swain, swayne, swein, sueyn

[Icel. sveina =a boy, a lad, a servant; cogn. with Sw. sven =a young man, a page; Low Ger. sween a swineherd; O. H. Ger. sue in, suén=a servant. Not.connected with swine.] *1. A young man in attendance on a knight; a squire. "Forth went knyght & sueyn, & fote men alle in fere." Robert de Brunne, p. 241. pine, pit, sire, sir, marine; gō, pot, IMG:content-0654.png:[blocks in formation] *swain mõte, *swein-mõte, *swan-i-mote, s. [Eng. swain , and mote =a meeting.] An old English forest court, having jurisdiction to inquire into the oppre ions and grievances committed by the officers of the forest. "The court of sweinmote is to be holden before the verderors, as judges, by the steward of the sweinmote thrice in every year, the sweins or freeholders within the forest composing the jury."-Black stone: Comment., bk. iii., ch. 6.