Word of the week: swain (swān) Definition (Noun) A country gallant or lover; hence generally a lover, wooer, sweetheart, especially in pastoral poetry. In Context "In order to avoid disturbing either the slumbers of the one, or the devotions of the other, Nelly and her swain were obliged to carry on their conversation in a low whispering voice which gave additional effect to the sleepy tone of the entire scene." Gerald Griffin, The Collegians, 1829.