Origin and history of sweep

early 14c., swepen, "make clean by sweeping with a broom;" mid-14c., "perform the act of sweeping," replacing earlier swope, and perhaps originally the past tense form of it. Middle English swope "sweep" is from Old English swapan "to sweep" (transitive and intransitive), for which see swoop (v.). Or perhaps sweep is from a Scandinavian source cognate to this or an unrecorded Old English *swipian. Related: Swept; sweeping. Swope also was used as a dialectal past tense of sweep.

It is attested from late 14c. as "hasten, rush, move or pass along swiftly and strongly" (intransitive); from c. 1400 in the transitive sense of "drive quickly, impel, move or carry forward by force." It is attested from late 14c. also as "collect (debris, etc.) by sweeping;" mid-15c. as "clear (something) away, remove by or as if by a sweeping blow." By 1630s as "draw or drag something over" (a lake, a minefield, etc.).

By 1892 as "achieve widespread popularity" (as in sweeping the nation). The meaning "win all the events" is by 1960, American English (compare sweepstakes). The sense of "pass the eye systematically over (a surface) in search of something" is from 1727. To sweep (one) off (one's) feet "affect with infatuation" is from 1913.

mid-13c., swope, "a whip, scourge," from the verb (see sweep (v.)) or its Old Norse cognate, or from Old English sweopu. The form replacement with -ee- follows the verb.

The meaning "act or action of sweeping" is from 1550s. It is attested from 1670s as "range or extent of a continued or non-rectilinear motion."

The meaning "rapid survey or inspection by moving the direction of vision" is by 1784. In reference to military (later police) actions that comprehensively move across a wide area, from 1837.

The sense of "a winning of all the tricks in a card game" is from 1814 (see sweepstakes); it was extended in this sense to other sports and contests by 1960. As a shortened form of chimney-sweeper, it is attested by 1796.