swoon
[ swoon ]
/ swun /
verb (used without object)
to faint; lose consciousness.
to enter a state of hysterical rapture or ecstasy: The teenagers swooned at the sight of the singing star.
noun
a faint or fainting fit; syncope.
Origin of swoon
1250–1300; (v.) Middle English
swo(w)nen to faint, orig. as gerund
swowening, swoghning act of swooning, ultimately continuing Old English
-swōgan (in compounds) to rush, overrun, choke; (noun) Middle English, partly derivative of the v., partly extracted from
in (
a)
swoune, on swoune, alteration of
a swoune, aswoune in a swoon, as if equivalent to
a
a-1 +
swoon (noun), but probably continuing Old English
āswōgen, past participle of
āswōgan to overcome (see
a-3), or
geswōgen (past participle) senseless, dead
OTHER WORDS FROM swoon
swoon·ing·ly, adverb un·swoon·ing, adjectiveWords nearby swoon
swollen head,
swollen-headed,
swoln,
swonk,
swonken,
swoon,
swoop,
swoosh,
swop,
sword,
sword bayonet
Example sentences from the Web for swoon
British Dictionary definitions for swoon
swoon
/ (swuːn) /
verb (intr)
a literary word for faint
to become ecstatic
noun
an instance of fainting
Also (archaic or dialect):
swound
Derived forms of swoon
swooning, adjective swooningly, adverbWord Origin for swoon
Old English
geswōgen insensible, past participle of
swōgan (unattested except in compounds) to suffocate