Swoom

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To lose consciousness briefly and sink down, as a person might when overcome by heat, shock or weakness
2. To collapse into a faint, especially in dialect usage, after being overcome by emotion or a sudden fright
3. Falling into a brief loss of consciousness, usually because of exhaustion, illness, or a sudden rush of feeling

Etymology: "Swoom" is a dialect form, recorded chiefly in Scots and northern English, that means to swoon, faint, or fall into a dead-like sleep. Its relationship to standard "swoon" is close: both descend from the Old English verb "swōgan", which meant to make a rushing or sighing sound, and the sense of fainting developed from the idea of breath going out of a person. The standard English form, "swoon", was established in Middle English, while the "swoom" spelling belongs to the regional speech that kept the older vowel. Records of the dialect form are sparse, so its exact dates and distribution are uncertain, but the link to "swoon" is well established.