Modern English Modern English, sometimes called New English (NE) or present-day English (PDE) as opposed to Middle and Old English, is the form of the English language that has been spoken since the Great Vowel Shift in England England is a Count ...

, the name of Sweden ( ) is derived from 17th century

Middle Dutch Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or , there was no overarching sta ...

and

Middle Low German Middle Low German is a developmental stage of Low German. It developed from the Old Saxon language in the Middle Ages and has been documented in writing since about 1225–34 (). During the Hanseatic period (from about 1300 to about 1600), Mid ...

. In

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

, the country was named ''Swēoland'' (literally "Swede land") and ''Swēorīċe'' (literally "Swede kingdom"); the latter is cognate with

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

''Svíaríki''. Anglo-Norman of the 12th and 13th centuries used ''Suane'' and ''Swane'' (with the adjective as ''Suaneis''). In Scots, ''Swane'' and ''Swaine'' appear in the 16th century.

Early Modern English Early Modern English (sometimes abbreviated EModEFor example, or EMnE) or Early New English (ENE) is the stage of the English language from the beginning of the Tudor period to the English Interregnum and Restoration, or from the transit ...

used ''Swedeland''. The

name for Sweden was ''Swēoland'' or ''Swēorīċe'', land or kingdom of the ''Swēon'', whereas the Germanic tribe of the ''

Swedes Swedes (), or Swedish people, are an ethnic group native to Sweden, who share a common ancestry, Culture of Sweden, culture, History of Sweden, history, and Swedish language, language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, ...

'' was called ''Svíþjóð'' in

. The latter is a compositum consisting of ''Sví'' which means Swedish and ''þjóð'' which means people. The word ''þjóð'' has its origin in the elder Indo-European word ''teuteh''. The name of the ''Sviar'' is derived from a self-designation containing the Germanic reflexive '' *s(w)e'' "one's own" or "self".

Sweden

The Modern English name ''Sweden'' was loaned from Dutch. Before the gradual introduction of ''Sweden'' in the 17th century, English used ''Swedeland'' or ''Sweathland''. It is based on

''Zweden'', the Dutch name of Sweden, and in origin the dative plural of ''Zwede'' " Swede". It has been in use in English from about 1600, first recorded in Scottish ''Swethin, Swadne''. Country names based on a dative plural in ''-n'' became productive in German and Dutch in the 15th century; compare German ''Italien'' "Italy", ''Spanien'' "Spain", ''Rumänien'' "Romania", ''Ungarn'' "Hungary". Outside of Dutch (''Zweden''), German (''Schweden''), and English, the name ''Sweden'' has also been adopted in Welsh. The English form in ''-n'' has also influenced several non-European languages, including Japanese スウェーデン (''Suwēden''), South Korean (''Seuweden''), Hindi (''Svīḍan''), Bangla (''Śuiḍen''), Yoruba ''Swídìn'' and the Chinese rendition (Southern Min ''Sūi-tián'', Cantonese ''seoi6 din2''), and via the Chinese

Hanzi Chinese characters are logographs used to write the Chinese languages and others from regions historically influenced by Chinese culture. Of the four independently invented writing systems accepted by scholars, they represent the only one ...

spelling various other languages in the larger Sinosphere (such as Mandarin ''Ruìdiǎn'', Vietnamese ''Thụy Điển'', etc.).

Sverige

In Sweden, the form ''Swerike'' is attested from the end of the 13th century, ''Svearike'', from the 14th century, as well as the Icelandic ''Svíaríki'' and the

Old Gutnish Old Gutnish was a stage in the development of the North Germanic language Gutnish, spoken on the Baltic Sea, Baltic island of Gotland and Fårö. The extant body of Old Gutnish is small, and Gutalagen and the Guta saga constitute its majority. ...

''Suiariki''. In those days the meaning was restricted to the older Swedish region in

Svealand Svealand (), or Swealand, is the historical core region of Sweden. It is located in south-central Sweden and is one of the three historical lands of Sweden, bounded to the north by Norrland and to the south by Götaland. Deep forests, Tive ...

and did not always include

Götaland Götaland (; also '' Gothia'', ''Gothland'', ''Gothenland'' or ''Gautland'') is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises ten provinces. Geographically it is located in the south of Sweden, bounded to the north by Svealand, with the deep wo ...

, the land of the

Geats The Geats ( ; ; ; ), sometimes called ''Geats#Goths, Goths'', were a large North Germanic peoples, North Germanic tribe who inhabited ("land of the Geats") in modern southern Sweden from antiquity until the Late Middle Ages. They are one of ...

. The word '' rike'' translates to "realm" and also appears in the name of the legislature, ''

Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...

'' (cf. Danish ''

rigsdag The Rigsdag ( ) was the name of the national legislature of Denmark from 1849 to 1953. The Rigsdag was Denmark's first parliament, and it was incorporated in the Constitution of 1849. It was a bicameral legislature, consisting of two houses, t ...

'', German '' Reichstag''). Towards the end of the 15th century, the form had changed to ''Swerighe'' both in Swedish and Danish, like ''baker'' ("baker") to ''bager is'' and ''mik'' ("me") to ''mig''. This was due to a linguistic sound change. 17th-century spellings include ''Swerghe'', ''Swirghe'', ''Swirge''. Much is made about the difference between the medieval forms ''Svearike'' and ''Sverige''. Medieval Swedes, though, were unlikely to see it as anything else but a matter of pronunciation.

Names in Finnic languages

A naming that stems from a completely different root is the one used in some

Finnic languages The Finnic or Baltic Finnic languages constitute a branch of the Uralic language family spoken around the Baltic Sea by the Baltic Finnic peoples. There are around 7 million speakers, who live mainly in Finland and Estonia. Traditionally, ...

, in Finnish ''Ruotsi'', in

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

''Rootsi'', in

Northern Sami Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

''Ruoŧŧa'', probably derived from various uses of ''rōþs-'', i.e., "related to rowing" in

Old Swedish Old Swedish ( Modern Swedish: ) is the name for two distinct stages of the Swedish language that were spoken in the Middle Ages: Early Old Swedish (), spoken from about 1225 until about 1375, and Late Old Swedish (), spoken from about 1375 unti ...

, cf. Rus, probably through the old name of the coast of North Svealand,

Roslagen Roslagen is the name of the coastal areas of Uppland province in Sweden, which also constitutes the northern part of the Stockholm archipelago. Historically, it was the name for all the coastal areas of the Baltic Sea, including the eastern par ...

, and to the fact that before sailboats were established in the Baltic Sea, row boats were used to traverse it. The etymology of the name shares the same root as the name ''

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

''.

Names in other languages

The name of Sweden was Latinized as ''Suecia'' adopted in various Romance and Slavic languages, including Spanish ''Suecia'', Catalan ''Suècia'', Portuguese ''Suécia'', Bulgarian ''Shvetsiya'', and in non-European languages influenced by such languages, In these languages, there is frequent confusion between the names of Sweden and of

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

(Spanish ''Suiza'', Catalan ''Suïssa'', Portuguese ''Suíça'', Bulgarian ''Shveytsariya''). There is a historical tradition going back to at least the 15th century to the effect that

Schwyz Schwyz (; ; ) is a town and the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The Federal Charter of 1291 or ''Bundesbrief'', the charter that eventually led to the foundation of Switzerland, can be seen at the ''Bundesbriefmuseum''. The of ...

(the settlement which gave its name to Switzerland) was indeed named after the Swedes.

Ericus Olai Ericus Olai () was a Swedish theologian and historian. He served as a professor of theology at Uppsala University and dean at Uppsala Cathedral. Ericus Olai was the author of the chronicle ''Chronica regni Gothorum'' and was an early proponent of ...

in his ''Chronica regni Gothorum'' () notes the similarity in toponymy, ''Swycia, quasi Suecia''. This tradition was taken seriously in 19th-century scholarly reception of the Swiss Swedish origin legend, especially in Swedish

romantic nationalism Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...

(e.g.

Erik Gustaf Geijer Erik Gustaf Geijer (12 January 1783 – 23 April 1847) was a Swedish writer, historian, poet, romantic critic of political economy, philosopher, and composer. His writings served to promote Swedish National Romanticism. He was an influentia ...

's 1836 ''History of the Swedes''), but is now considered unlikely. Chinese uses to represent a phonetic approximation of the name (Early 20th century Mandarin: ''Shuì Diǎn'', Modern Mandarin ''Ruì Diǎn'',

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

''Seoi⁶Din²''.). Also in China, there has been frequent confusion with the name of Switzerland (Both

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

and

names beginning with the same character ''ruì'' (meaning "auspicious"), to the point where the Swiss and Swedish consulates in Shanghai launched a campaign to help Chinese tourists distinguish between the two countries in 2013.Chinese confuse Sweden with Switzerland
/ref>) In

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, the name is rendered as ''Suwayd'' , the pertaining adjective being ''suwaydī'' "Swedish", which happens to form a homonym with a pre-existing Arabic name ''Suwayd'' "black, dark, swarthy" (cf. ''

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

'') and the nisba pre-existing in various parts of the Arab world (such as Riyadh's as-Suwaidi district).

Notes

References

{{Europe topic, Name of, title=Names of European states and territories

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

History of Sweden