English
faintness
Faintness comes from Middle English faintnesse.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500faintnesse
- Englishearliest quotation 1591faintness
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500faintnesse
- Englishearliest quotation 1591faintness
Earliest quotation: 1591, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Sixt: “And he first took exceptions at this badge, /…”
Formed from faint + -ness
Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- ‘to mold’
Latin fingere ‘to touch, handle, form, shape, frame, form in…’
Old French faint
Middle English faynt ‘weak’
English faint
Every English word from Middle English faintnesse
Today it means
noun The property of being or feeling faint.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English faintnesse / faintness