verb (used without object)
1.
to faint; lose consciousness.
2.
to enter a state of hysterical rapture or ecstasy: The teenagers swooned at the sight of the singing star.
noun
3.
a faint or fainting fit; syncope.
Origin:
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
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
Related forms
swoon·ing·ly, adverb
un·swoon·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
|
Link To swooningly
00:10
Swooningly
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
swoon (swuːn) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | a literary word for faint |
| 2. | to become ecstatic |
| —n | |
| 3. | an instance of fainting |
| [Old English geswōgen insensible, past participle of swōgan (unattested except in compounds) to suffocate] | |
| 'swooning | |
| —adj | |
| 'swooningly | |
| —adv | |
| swoon (swuːn) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | a literary word for faint |
| 2. | to become ecstatic |
| —n | |
| 3. | an instance of fainting |
| [Old English geswōgen insensible, past participle of swōgan (unattested except in compounds) to suffocate] | |
| 'swooning | |
| —adj | |
| 'swooningly | |
| —adv | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
swoon
late 13c., swogene, probably from O.E. geswogen "in a faint," pp. of a lost verb, perhaps *swogan, as in aswogan "to choke," of uncertain origin. Cf. Low Ger. swogen "to sigh."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Cite This Source
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