Forms: 4 (and 9 in sense 1 b) feint, 4–6 fainte, faynt(e, feynt(e, 6 Sc. fant(e, 4– faint. [a. OF. faint, feint feigned, sluggish, cowardly, pa. pple. of faindre, feindre (mod.F. feindre) to FEIGN, in early use also refl. to avoid one’s duty by false pretences, to shirk, skulk.]
† 1. Feigned, pretended, simulated. Obs.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 19535 (Cott.). Þar-for tok he [Symon Magus] baptim faint.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter, xl. 6. Vayn thynge & faynt spak his hert.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 12590.
| Thus lytherly þo lyghers lappit þere tales, | |
| And forget a faint tale vnder fals colour. |
c. 1440. York Myst., xxix. 229. A faynte frend myght he þer fynde.
1477. Earl Rivers (Caxton), Dictes, 144. He that loueth the with feynt loue.
1568. Grafton, Chron., II. 93. And finished the sayde peace with an assured othe … but it semed a faynt peace, for [etc.].
b. Law. Faint action, pleading, etc.: = ‘feigned action,’ etc.: see FEIGNED.
1543–3. Act 34–5 Henry VIII., c. 24. The saide Manour … to be recovered by fainte pleader, reddicion or other fraude or covyne.
1552. Huloet, Faynte accion, actio exermata.
1607. Cowel, Interpr., Faint pleader.… It signifieth with vs, a false covenous, or collusory maner of pleading, to the deceipt of a third partie.
1641. Termes de la Ley, 154. Faint pleading is a covenous, false, and collusory manner of pleading to the deceit of a third party.
1672. in Cowel, Interpr., Faynt alias Feynt Action.
1818. Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), V. 517. Lord Coke says, if a husband cause a præcipe quod reddat upon a feint title to be brought against him and his wife, and suffers a recovery without any voucher, and execution is had against him and his wife.
II. Sluggish, timid, feeble.
† 2. Avoiding exertion, shirking, lazy, sluggish.
c. 1325. Richard Coer de Lion, 2519.
| ‘Rowes on faste! who that is feynt, | |
| In evel water may he be dreynt!’ |
1393. Gower, Conf., II. 5.
| But he, which had his thoughtes feint | |
| Towardes loves and full of slouthe. |
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 153. Feynt, segnis.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, I. vii. 33.
| The beis … fra thair hife togiddir in a rout | |
| Expellis the bowbart beist, the faynt drone be. |
1672. W. Temple, An Essay upon the Original and Nature of Government, Misc., 53. In the more intemperate climates, the spirits, either exhaled by heat, or compressed by cold, are rendered faint and sluggish; and by that reason the men grow tamer, and fitter for servitude.
3. Wanting in courage, spiritless, cowardly. Obs. or arch. exc. in faint heart (now associated with sense 4 b).
a. 1300. Cursor M., 18081 (Cott.). A faint fighter me thine er þou.
c. 1300. K. Alis., 7597. Haveth now non heorte feynte!
c. 1320. Sir Beues, 1575.
| On a dai sse he was mad & feint | |
| To Iesu Crist he made is pleint. |
1414. Brampton, Penit. Ps. cxvi. (Percy Society), 44. Myn herte is fals[e], feynt, and drye.
c. 1489. Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, viii. 184. Thoughe ye shold abyde behynde as weke men and feynte.
a. 1533. Ld. Berners, Huon, lii. 177. Thou arte of a faynte corage.
a. 1593. H. Smith, Wks. (1867), II. 201–2. The thoughts of the heart of the carnal man, thinking of the way to heaven, are the faint spies that went to the land of Canaan, which say, that journey is farther than you are able to go all your life, the way is like a thicket, and the door like a needle’s eye.
1627. May, Lucan, III. (1635), 103.
| Fortune spares | |
| Thee Rome in this, to send thee civill wars | |
| Having so faint a chiefe. |
1702. Rowe, Tamerl., I. i.
| His Party, prest with Numbers, soon grew faint, | |
| And would have left their Charge an easie Prey. |
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), III. 689, Critias. Faint heart never yet raised a trophy; and therefore you must go and attack the argument like a man.
absol. 1814. Byron, Lara, II. x. The fierce that vanquish, and the faint that yield.
1870. Bryant, Iliad, I. IV. 120.
| Between | |
| He made the faint of spirit take their place, | |
| That, though unwillingly, they might be forced | |
| To combat with the rest. |
b. Proverb.
1569. W. Elderton, Ballad, Brittains Ida, V. i. Faint heart ne’er won fair lady.
1624. Massinger, Parl. Love, II. iii.
| All hell’s plagues light on the proverb | |
| That says ‘Faint heart’—! But it is stale. |
4. Wanting in strength or vigor, † a. Of persons or animals, their faculties or condition; also rarely of material agents: Weak, feeble; sickly, out of condition. Obs.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 785. Febul wax he & faynt.
1399. Langl., Rich. Redeles, III. 88. With many ffair ffowle, þouȝ þey ffeynte were.
c. 1420. Palladius on Husbondrie, III. 288.
| In bigger bowes fele, and fainter fewe | |
| Brannches doo traile, and cutte he bei this reason. |
1513. Douglas, Æneis, VII. viii. 74.
| Bot, O auld dame, thi vile wnveildy age, | |
| Ourset with hasart hair and faynt dotage. |
1535. Coverdale, Ps. cxlii[i], 7. My sprete waxeth faynte.
1641. H. Best, Rural Economy in Yorkshire in 1641 (Surtees), 143. Barley strawe is accounted the best for oxen that drawe, because it is fownde hearty, and not altogeather soe faint as haver strawe.
1653. Walton, Angler, 130–1. If I catch a Trout in one Meadow, he shall be white and faint, and very like to be lowsie; and as certainly if I catch a Trout in the next Meadow, he shal be strong, and red, and lusty, and much better meat.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 204.
| For if the Sire be faint, or out of case, | |
| He will be copied in his famish’d Race. |
1699. Dampier, Voy., II. III. 36. Where the scantiest or faintest Land-winds are found.
1764. Harmer, Observ., IV. iv. 142. Cow-dung, a very slow faint fire, being used for fewel very commonly.
b. Of actions, wishes, purposes: Half-hearted, languid, feeble.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., IV. vi. 24. Turning feare to faint deuotion.
1630. in Picton, L’pool Munic. Rec. (1883), I. 158. Many disord’s growen in this kingdome through neglect or faint execucion of those lawes that tend to the releiveinge of impotent poore people.
1640. Habington, Edw. IV., 183. The King in so deepe a lethargie that no danger could wake him, nor touch of honour make him sensible, heard this with a faire respect, and dismist the Embassadors with some faint comfort.
1728. J. Veneer, A Companion for the Sincere Penitent, Preface, iv. A faint and miserably imperfect progress in that part of religion which is most agreeable to their complexions and inclinations.
1735. Pope, Prol. Sat., 201.
| Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer, | |
| And without sneering, teach the rest to sneer. |
1848. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 581. A faint show of opposition from one or two peers.
1863. Fr. A. Kemble, Resid. in Georgia, 37. This morning I paid my second visit to the Infirmary, and found there had been some faint attempt at sweeping and cleaning, in compliance with my entreaties.
5. Producing a feeble impression on the senses or the mind; dim, indistinct, hardly perceptible: a. of light, sound, odor.
1660. Boyle, New Exp. Phys. Mech., 270. The Pump after this being imploy’d, it seem’d that from time to time the sound grew fainter and fainter.
1665. Hooke, Microgr., 84. By … Turpentine, &c. all those reflections are made more faint.
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey), s.v. Vision, Faint Vision is when a few Rays make up one Pencil, and tho’ this may be distinct, yet it is obscure and dark.
1784. Cowper, Task, V. 59.
| Where, diligent to catch the first faint gleam | |
| Of smiling day, they gossiped side by side. |
1818. Shelley, Rosalind, 1015.
| When the summer wind faint odors brought | |
| From mountain flowers. |
a. 1839. Praed, Poems (1864), I. 96, ‘The Troubadour.’
| And echo shrinks, as if afraid | |
| Of the faint murmur she has made. |
1868. Lockyer, Elem. Astron., i. (1879), 10. A star of the sixth magnitude is, as we have seen, the faintest visible to the naked eye.
b. of a color.
1551. Huloet, Faynte and vnperfite coloure, dilutus color.
1665. Hooke, Microgr., 74. All manner of Blues, from the faintest to the deepest.
1716. Lond. Gaz., No. 5468/4. Stolen … a Faint Bay Horse.
1730. Thomson, Summer, 1317 (1746).
| As from her naked limbs of glowing white, | |
| Harmonious swell’d by Nature’s finest hand, | |
| In folds loose floating fell the fainter lawn. |
1815. J. Smith, The Panorama of Science and Art, II. 724. The faintest part of the picture should be put in first, proceeding gradually to the darkest.
1872. Bryant, The Little People of the Snow, 111.
| She saw a little creature lily-cheeked, | |
| With flowing flaxen locks, and faint blue eyes. |
c. Of markings, etc. Applied spec. to the lines of a pale blue or neutral tint ruled on paper as a guide for handwriting. Hence quasiadv. in ruled faint.
d. of objects of mental perception, e.g., resemblance, probability, etc. Also of conceptions or representations: ‘Pale’ or feeble compared with the reality.
1727. Swift, Gulliver, II. viii. 166. This gave me some faint hopes of Relief.
1751. Jortin, Serm. (1771), II. xvii. 333. The faint remembrance of the word of God.
1772. Priestley, Inst. Relig. (1782), II. 113. We form a faint idea of [it].
1834. T. Pringle, African Sketches, x. 338. Such is a faint picture of the state of things at the Cape in the beginning of October, 1824.
1884. Manch. Exam., 11 June, 5/3. There is not the faintest chance that [etc.].
absol. 1840. Browning, Sordello, V. 417.
| No! Saturn; some existence like a pact | |
| And protest against Chaos, some first fact | |
| I’ the faint of time. |
6. Feeble through inanition, fear or exhaustion; inclined to ‘faint’ or swoon. Const. † of, with.
c. 1320. R. Brunne, Medit., 509. Þey broȝt hym to pylate, he stede ful feynt.
c. 1380. Sir Ferumb., 332. He ys boþe paal & feynt.
1430. Lydgate, Chronicle of Troy, I. ix.
| Which of laboure were full mate and feynt, | |
| And of longe fight with werinesse atteynt. |
c. 1489. Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, ix. 249. Guycharde … was feynte and felle doun, to the erthe.
1704. F. Fuller, Med. Gymn. (1711), 30. When a Man in that Case rises first from his sick Bed, and makes a shift to walk a very little in his Chamber, tho’ he quickly grows faint, and wants some Cordial to refresh him.
1837. J. Richardson, Movements of the British Legion, ii. (ed. 2), 291. He was exceedingly sore and faint with the bruises he had received, but not the less ravenous in his appetite withal.
1867. Dickens, Letter (1880), II. 272. I was taken so faint afterwards.
transf. 1548. Hall, Chron., 230 b. Knowyng his treasorie … to bee so voyde and faint.
III. 7. Producing faintness; sickly; † having a sickly smell. Of the atmosphere: Oppressive.
1525. Ld. Berners, Froiss., II. clxxvii. [clxxiii.], 530. The wether was so faynt.
1622. Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, III. i.
| The white cony-skin I will not lay by, | |
| For, though it be faint, ’tis faire to the eye. |
1673. W. Temple, Observations upon the United Provinces, Wks. 1731, I. v. 46. Warm faint Air turns in a Night to a sharp Frost.
1712. W. Rogers, Voy., 182. The Weather was very wet, hot and faint, the Streets deep and slippery, and the Ways to the Water-side very bad, which mightily incommoded us.
1864. Sala, in Daily Tel., 16 Aug. I wish La Villa Ricca de Vera Cruz had not quite so faint a smell.
1870. Hawthorne, Eng. Note-bks. (1879), II. 345. The atmosphere was a little faint and sickish, perhaps owing to the odor of the half-tepid water.
IV. Comb. 8. a. with adjs. of color, as faint-blue, -green, etc. b. parasynthetic, as faint-breathed, -hued, -lipped, -voiced, etc.
1598. Sylvester, Du Bartas, II. ii. II. Babylon, 301.
| The faint-breath’d children | |
| Cry often Bek. |
1682. Sir T. Browne, Chr. Mor., 9. Persons lightly dipt, not grain’d in generous Honesty, are but pale in Goodness, and faint hued in Integrity.
1820. Keats, Hyperion, III. 18.
| Let the red wine within the goblet boil, | |
| Cold as a bubbling well; let faint-lipp’d shells, | |
| On sands, or in great deeps, vermilion turn | |
| Through all their labyrinths. |
1832. Tennyson, Mariana in S., 5.
| A faint-blue ridge upon the right, | |
| An empty river-bed before, | |
| And shallows on a distant shore, | |
| In glaring sand and inlets bright. |
1844. Ld. Houghton, Palm Leaves, 138.
| While in the minaretted distance gleamed | |
| Purple and faint-green relics of the day. |
1871. E. F. Burr, Ad Fidem, xiv. 283–4. At such times, Religion with its Theism, its Christianity, and its Bible, always began to look increasingly worthy, truthful, divine; that somehow objections and difficulties in respect to it seemed to become faint-voiced, and draw back, and melt away of their own accord.
9. quasi-adv. with ppl. adjs., as faint-gleaming, -glimmering, -heard, -lit, -warbled, etc.
1727–46. Thomson, Summer, 48.
| The meek-ey’d Morn appears, mother of dews, | |
| At first faint gleaming in the dappled east. | |
| Ibid. (1728–46), Spring, 585. | |
| And try again the long forgotten strain; | |
| At first faint warbled. |
1729. Savage, Wanderer, III. 12.
| Now dance the Stars, where Vesper leads the Way; | |
| Yet all, faint-glimm’ring with Remains of Day. |
1866. Howells, Venet. Life, xvii. 260. The moon was full, and snowed down the mellowest light on the gray domes, which in their soft, elusive outlines, and strange effect of far withdrawal, rhymed like faint-heard refrains to the bright and vivid arches of the façade.
1867. R. Lytton, Chronicles and Characters, Gyges and Candaules xv.
| And ghostly laughters lasped at intervals | |
| Along the faint-lit cold-wall’d corridors. |
