English
forfaint
From for- + faint.
Proto-Indo-European *pro- ‘before, in front of’
Proto-Germanic *fra- ‘off, away’
Proto-West Germanic *fra- ‘forms verbs with the sense of "away from" or…’
English for-
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
Today it means
adj Very faint; languishing; pitiful; arm.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / forfaint