Faints

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To undergo a temporary loss of awareness and physical strength, often resulting from emotional distress or a sudden physiological change
2. Experiences a sudden and brief lapse of consciousness due to physiological or emotional factors
3. Temporarily becomes unconscious, often caused by a drop in blood flow or shock

Etymology: "Faints" is the third-person singular present form of the verb "faint," so it describes someone who loses consciousness for a short time. The verb comes from the adjective "faint," which originally meant weak or feeble, and that adjective is the more useful starting point. The adjective traces back to Old French "faint" or "feint," which meant "feigned," "sluggish," or "negligent." Its root is the past participle of "feindre," meaning "to feign" or "sham," and that verb descends from Latin "fingere," a word with a surprisingly physical sense: "to touch, handle, form, or shape." The same Latin root gave English "feign" and "fiction," so a fiction is, etymologically, something shaped or made up. The distant Proto-Indo-European ancestor meant "to mold," which is also why "dough" belongs to this family. The shift from "sham" to "weak" happened in Middle English, where "faint" came to describe feebleness of body or spirit. Only later did the sense narrow to the sudden loss of consciousness that the verb now expresses, so "faints" describes a feeble giving-way rather than a pretence.

Synonyms: collapses, swoons, faints

Antonyms: revives, recovers