Fainéant to Faith
Fainéant
(||Fai`né`ant") a. [F.; fait he does + néant nothing.] Doing nothing; shiftless. — n. A do-nothing; an
idle fellow; a sluggard. Sir W. Scott.
Faint
(Faint) a. [Compar. Fainter (-er); superl. Faintest.] [OE. feint, faint, false, faint, F. feint, p. p.
of feindre to feign, suppose, hesitate. See Feign, and cf. Feint.]
1. Lacking strength; weak; languid; inclined to swoon; as, faint with fatigue, hunger, or thirst.
2. Wanting in courage, spirit, or energy; timorous; cowardly; dejected; depressed; as, "Faint heart ne'er won
fair lady." Old Proverb.
3. Lacking distinctness; hardly perceptible; striking the senses feebly; not bright, or loud, or sharp, or forcible; weak; as,
a faint color, or sound.
4. Performed, done, or acted, in a weak or feeble manner; not exhibiting vigor, strength, or energy; slight; as,
faint efforts; faint resistance.
The faint prosecution of the war.
Sir J. Davies. Faint
(Faint), n. The act of fainting, or the state of one who has fainted; a swoon. [R.] See Fainting, n.
The saint,
Who propped the Virgin in her faint.
Sir W. Scott. Faint
(Faint), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fainted; p. pr. & vb. n. Fainting.]
1. To become weak or wanting in vigor; to grow feeble; to lose strength and color, and the control of the
bodily or mental functions; to swoon; — sometimes with away. See Fainting, n.
Hearing the honor intended her, she fainted away.
Guardian.
If I send them away fasting . . . they will faint by the way.
Mark viii. 8.
2. To sink into dejection; to lose courage or spirit; to become depressed or despondent.
If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.
Prov. xxiv. 10. 3. To decay; to disappear; to vanish.
Gilded clouds, while we gaze upon them, faint before the eye.
Pope. Faint
(Faint) v. t. To cause to faint or become dispirited; to depress; to weaken. [Obs.]
It faints me to think what follows.
Shak. Faint-hearted
(Faint"-heart`ed) a. Wanting in courage; depressed by fear; easily discouraged or frightened; cowardly; timorous; dejected.
Fear not, neither be faint- hearted.
Is. vii. 4. — Faint"-heart`ed*ly, adv. — Faint"-heart`ed*ness, n.
Fainting
(Faint"ing) n. Syncope, or loss of consciousness owing to a sudden arrest of the blood supply
to the brain, the face becoming pallid, the respiration feeble, and the heat's beat weak.
Fainting fit, a fainting or swoon; syncope. [Colloq.]
Faintish
(Faint"ish), a. Slightly faint; somewhat faint. — Faint"ish*ness, n.
