Careful Words

swear (n.)

swear (v.)

My fair one, let us swear an eternal friendship.—Molière: Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, act iv. sc. 1.

  My fair one, let us swear an eternal friendship.

Jean Baptiste MolièRe (1622-1673): Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme. Act iv. Sc. 1.

  Rom.  Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear,

That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops—

  Jul.  O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon,

That monthly changes in her circled orb,

Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Romeo and Juliet. Act ii. Sc. 2.

  By this leek, I will most horribly revenge: I eat and eat, I swear.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): King Henry V. Act v. Sc. 1.

  Rom.  Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear,

That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops—

  Jul.  O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon,

That monthly changes in her circled orb,

Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Romeo and Juliet. Act ii. Sc. 2.

Odds life! must one swear to the truth of a song?

Matthew Prior (1664-1721): A Better Answer.

She knows her man, and when you rant and swear,

Can draw you to her with a single hair.

John Dryden (1631-1701): Persius. Satire v. Line 246.