faint - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Middle English faynt, feynt (“weak; feeble”), from Old French faint, feint (“feigned; negligent; sluggish”), past participle of feindre, faindre (“to feign; sham; work negligently”), from Latin fingere (“to touch, handle, form, shape, frame, form in thought, imagine, conceive, contrive, devise, feign”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- (“to mold”). Cognate with feign and fiction and more distantly dough.

faint (comparative fainter, superlative faintest)

  1. (of a being) Lacking strength; weak; languid; inclined to lose consciousness
    Synonym: dizzy
    I felt faint after my fifth gin and tonic.
    He almost fell faint due to the hot climate.
  2. Lacking courage, spirit, or energy; cowardly; dejected.
    • 1789, Robert Burns, to Dr. Blacklock:
      Faint heart ne'er won fair lady.
  3. Barely perceptible; not bright, or loud, or sharp.
    Synonyms: dull, wan; see also Thesaurus:dim
    There was a faint red light in the distance.
  4. Performed, done, or acted, weakly; not exhibiting vigor, strength, or energy.
    faint efforts
    faint resistance
    They damned the latest book with faint praise.
  5. Slight; minimal.
    Synonym: remote
    a faint chance
    • 2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 243b:
      do you have the faintest understanding of what they mean?
  6. (archaic) Sickly, so as to make a person feel faint.
    • 1843, Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit:
      Happening to pass a fruiterer’s on their way; the door of which was open, though the shop was by this time shut; one of them remarked how faint the peaches smelled.

lacking strength; inclined to lose consciousness

wanting in courage

lacking distinctness, hardly perceptible

performed in a weak or feeble manner

faint (plural faints)

  1. The act of fainting, syncope.
    She suffered another faint.
  2. (rare) The state of one who has fainted; a swoon.

the act of fainting

From Middle English fainten, feynten, from the adjective (see above).

faint (third-person singular simple present faints, present participle fainting, simple past and past participle fainted)

  1. (intransitive) To lose consciousness through a lack of oxygen or nutrients to the brain, usually as a result of suddenly reduced blood flow (may be caused by emotional trauma, loss of blood or various medical conditions).
    A fainting fit.
    • 1713 September 22, Richard Steele, The Guardian, number 167:
      But upon hearing the Honour which he intended her , she fainted away , and fell down as Dead at his Feet
  2. (intransitive) To lose courage or spirit; to become depressed or despondent.
  3. (intransitive) To decay; to disappear; to vanish.

to lose consciousness

From Middle High German vīnt, vīent, vīant, from Old High German fīant, fīand, from Proto-Germanic *fijandz (“enemy, fiend”). Cognate with German Feind, English fiend.

faint m (plural fainte)

  1. (Sette Comuni) enemy, fiend
    Biibel péssor möchte zeinan de bèlt as da börn khòone fainte?
    How much better would the world be if there were no enemies?

Shortened from pa faint (“what amount”).

faint m

  1. how much, how many

Faint o gathod? ― How many cats?

Faint o goffi? ― How much coffee?

Sawl cath? ― How many cats?

Sawl coffi? ― How many coffees?