Origin and history of swept

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.