[f. as prec. + -NESS.] The state or condition of being faint.
1. The state or condition of being without strength or exhausted; exhaustion, feebleness.
a. 1440. Sir Eglam., 901.
| For feyntnes sche myght not speke a worde, | |
| The lady leynyd hur on the borde, | |
| And made sygnys wyth hur hande. |
1494. Fabyan, Chron., VI. cxcvi. 201. He bled so sore that for fayntnes he fyll from his horse.
1548. Hall, Chron., 60 b. This miserable famyne dayly more and more encreasyng so daunted the heartes of the bold capitaynes, & so abated the courages of the riche burgesses, and so turmented the bodies of the poore citezens, that the stout souldiour for faintnes could skase welde his weapon.
1625. Hart, The Anatomie of Urines, II. iv. 72. After this excretion of bloud, there followeth a certaine resolution and faintnesse of their ioynts, their head notwithstanding becometh much lighter and better.
1672. Sanderson, in Walton, Life, M ij a. A great bodily weakness and faintness of spirits.
a. 1717. Blackall, Wks. (1723) I. 63. ’Tis this faintness of their Desire which is the Cause of it’s being successless.
a. 1871. Grote, Eth. Fragm., i. (1876), 14. There are great differences between one society and another in respect to the faintness or potency of the feeling—the constancy or unsteadiness of its operation—the degree to which it bears equally or unequally upon all the various members, and operates alike for the protection of all and the restraint of all.
† b. transf.
1543–4. Act 35 Hen. VIII., c. 10. For fayntnes of the springes … the accustomed course of the waters … diminished.
1548. Hall, Chron., 226. To them he explaned … the fayntnesse & lenenesse of hys treasure.
† c. Of flesh: Want of firmness or solidity.
1599. Minsheu, Pleasant and Delightfull Dialogues in Spanish and English (1623), 56. Of this fertilitie proceeds the faintnesse of the flesh there.
2. The state of being faint in spirit; dejection, timorousness; inertness, slackness, sluggishness. Obs. exc. in faintness of heart, etc.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XII. xxvii. (1495), 430. For his feyntnes and cowardnes the kite is ouercome of a birde that is lesse than he.
c. 1485. Digby Myst., iii. 280. In feyntnes I falter, for þis fray fell.
1591. Shaks., 1 Hen. VI., IV. i. 107.
| Pronouncing that the palenesse of this Flower, | |
| Bewray’d the faintnesse of my Masters heart. |
1645. Milton, Tetrach., Introd. They … have neglected through faintnesse the onely remedy of their sufferings.
1851. Gallenga, Italy, 301. Faintness of heart and infirmity of purpose must naturally … be found in so vast a mass.
3. The feeling of being faint or ready to swoon.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 253 b. He fell downe for feyntness and weyknes.
1791. Mrs. Radcliffe, The Romance of the Forest, xx. The faintness is already gone off.
1828. Scott, F. M. Perth, xxxiv. The faintness which seemed to overpower him.
1874. Lisle Carr, Jud. Gwynne, I. i. 29. Sudden faintnesses at the last moment.
4. The quality or fact of being faint or of feebly affecting the senses; dimness or feebleness (of light, color, outline, etc.).
1651. Davenant, Gondibert, III. iv. 50.
| It [the emerald] … will, when worn by the neglected wife, | |
| Shew when her absent Lord disloyal proves, | |
| By faintness, and a pale decay of life. |
1732. Berkeley, Alciphr., IV. § 8. Littleness or Faintness, in their own Nature, seem to have no necessary Connexion with greater Length of Distance.
1824. L. Murray, Eng. Gram. (ed. 5), I. 40. The faintness of the sound of this letter.
1883. F. M. Crawford, Dr. Claudius, ix. 169. They were alone on the deck in the faintness of the gathering twilight.
