From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishswainswain /sweɪn/ noun [countable] old use ALGIRLFRIEND/BOYFRIENDa young man from the country who loves a woman
Examples from the Corpus
swain• It was my erstwhile swain, looking much the same as 10 years earlier.• Must have every swain at her feet.• If you'd invented a string of lovelorn swains you'd have had to pay customer prices.• Often has the aching brow of royalty resigned its crown, to be decked with the soothing chaplet of the shepherd swain.• A baggy knee was enough to excite the swains.• A young swain more virile and lusty than he?Origin swain (1500-1600) Old Norse sveinn “boy, servant” 