faint English · revision 39641

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1300, Kyng Alisaunder|origins=la fingō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /feɪnt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|faint]] and [[m|enm|feint]],^(MWU 2024)^(Klein 1966) [[bor|fro|faint]] and [[m|fro|feint|t=feigned, sluggish, cowardly]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) the past participle of [[m|fro|faindre]] and [[m|fro|feindre|t=to feign]],^(OED 2026)^(Ayto 2005)^(Barnhart 1988) which in early use also meant to avoid one's duty by false pretences, to shirk.^(OED 2026) Anglo-Norman had the adjective from c. 1136–65 in the senses "false, sham", "weak" and "faint-hearted".^(AND) The French verb continues [[la|fingō|t=to form, devise, fabricate]],^(Etymonline)^(Skeat 1911)^(Cresswell 2021) from [[ine-pro|*dheigh-|t=to form, build]],^(Etymonline) so the word is related to [[feign]], [[feint]], [[fiction]] and [[figment]].^(Cresswell 2021)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Lacking courage, spiritless, cowardly: c. 1300, in ''Kyng Alisaunder''.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) Barnhart dates ''feinte'' "cowardly, feigned" to probably before 1300, and the sense "weak, feeble" to about 1300, in ''Sir Beves of Hamtoun''.^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline gives c. 1300 for "enfeebled; wearied, exhausted".^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ English first took over the French senses: "feigned, pretended" (a1340, in Richard Rolle, obsolete by 1569, though law kept ''faint action'' for a feigned one until 1818), "lazy, shirking" (c. 1325–1680) and "cowardly".^(OED 2026)^(Ayto 2005) Of these only the last survives, in ''faint heart'' and the proverb ''faint heart never won fair lady'' (mid-16th century).^(Ayto 2005)^(Cresswell 2021)^(OED 2026) Out of "weak, feeble" (a1375–1764) came "half-hearted" (1596, in Spenser) and the senses of a faint impression on the senses: of a colour from 1552, of light, sound or smell from 1660.^(OED 2026)^(Ayto 2005) Johnson (1755) defined it as "languid; weak; feeble" and "not bright; not vivid".^(Johnson 1755) The verb, formed from the adjective, meant to lose heart from a1375 and to fall into a swoon from c. 1440 (c. 1400 in Etymonline);^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) Chaucer also used it transitively, "to make faint".^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) The noun meant faintness from c. 1320 and a swoon from 1808, in Scott's ''Marmion'',^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) although Merriam-Webster dates the swoon to 1792.^(MWU 2024) In 19th-century American slang ''faint'' was a euphemism for drunk,^(GDoS) and in Devon dialect it described close, sultry weather.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1300 – cowardly; weak, enfeebled.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1320 – noun, faintness (obsolete by 1600).^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1325 – lazy, shirking (obsolete).^(OED 2026)

+ * a1340 – feigned, pretended (obsolete).^(OED 2026)

+ * a1375 – verb, to lose heart.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1386 – verb, to make faint, in Chaucer.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1440 – verb, to swoon.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1552 – of a colour, pale.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1596 – half-hearted.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1660 – of light, sound or smell, dim, barely perceptible.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1808 – noun, a swoon.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Barely perceptible; [[dim]], pale or quiet: ''a faint smell of smoke''.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Slight, weak or lacking conviction: ''There is a faint chance they will agree.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Feeling weak and [[dizzy]], as if about to lose [[consciousness]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # (archaic) Lacking courage; timid, now mainly in ''faint heart''.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To lose consciousness briefly, as from shock, hunger or heat; to [[swoon]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # (archaic) To lose heart or grow weak.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A brief loss of consciousness; a swoon: ''She fell down in a dead faint.''^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fainter]]

+ * [[faintly]]

+ * [[faintness]]

+ * [[faintish]]

+ * [[faint-hearted]]

+ * [[faintheart]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[feign]]

+ * [[feint]]

+ * [[fiction]]

+ * [[figment]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In commerce the adjective is spelt ''feint'' for the pale ruled lines on writing paper.^(SOED 2002)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}