swoon
[ swoon ]
/ swun /
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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.
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Origin of swoon
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English (verb) swo(w)nen “to faint,” originally as gerund swowening, swoghning “act of swooning,” ultimately continuing Old English -swōgan (in compounds) “to rush, overrun, choke”; Middle English (noun) partly derivative of the verb, partly extracted from in (a) swoune, on swoune, alteration of a swoune, aswoune “in a swoon,” as if equivalent to aa-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, adverbun·swoon·ing, adjectiveWords nearby swoon
swollen head, swollen-headed, swoln, swonk, swonken, swoon, swoop, swoosh, swop, sword, sword bayonet
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for swoon
British Dictionary definitions for swoon
Also (archaic or dialect): swound
Derived forms of swoon
swooning, adjectiveswooningly, adverbWord Origin for swoon
Old English geswōgen insensible, past participle of swōgan (unattested except in compounds) to suffocate
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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