Exchanges of one thing for another, or the act of trading items with someone else.
From Old English 'swæpan' meaning to sweep or strike. The meaning shifted to 'exchange' by the 1600s, possibly from the idea of sweeping one thing away to replace it with another.
In modern finance, 'swaps' are complex contracts where banks exchange cash flows, but the concept is ancient—humans have been swapping goods since before written language existed.
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