A dialectal or archaic term, possibly related to swelling or a type of folk illness, though its precise meaning is obscure.
Possibly from Old English or dialectal roots, the etymology is unclear. It may be related to 'swelling' or contain a prefix 'f-' variant of 'sw-' found in some English dialects.
Extremely obscure words like this remind us that English dialects contain thousands of forgotten terms that shed light on how people experienced the world differently in different regions and time periods!
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