faint

Etymology 1

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.

adj

1. (of a being) Lacking strength; weak; languid; inclined to lose consciousness
   I felt faint after my fifth gin and tonic.
2. Lacking courage, spirit, or energy; cowardly; dejected
   Faint heart ne'er won fair lady. 1789, Robert Burns, to Dr. Blacklock
3. Barely perceptible; not bright, or loud, or sharp
   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
5. Slight; minimal.
   do you have the faintest understanding of what they mean? 2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 243b
6. (archaic) Sickly, so as to make a person feel faint.
   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. 1843, Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit

noun

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

Etymology 2

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

verb

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).
   But upon hearing the Honour which he intended her , she fainted away , and fell down as Dead at his Feet September 22 1713, Richard Steele, The Guardian No. 167
2. (intransitive) To lose courage or spirit; to become depressed or despondent.
3. (intransitive) To decay; to disappear; to vanish.
   November 12, 1711, Alexander Pope, letter to Henry Cromwell Gilded clouds, while we gaze upon them, faint before the eye.