different between faint vs gentle
faint
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fe?nt/
- Rhymes: -e?nt
- Homophone: feint
Etymology 1
From Middle English faynt, feynt (“weak; feeble”), from Old French faint, feint (“feigned; negligent; sluggish”), past participle of feindre, faindre (“to feign; sham; work negligently”), from Latin fingere (“to touch, handle, usually form, shape, frame, form in thought, imagine, conceive, contrive, devise, feign”).
Adjective
faint (comparative fainter, superlative faintest)
- (of a being) Lacking strength; weak; languid; inclined to lose consciousness
- Lacking courage, spirit, or energy; cowardly; dejected
- 1789, Robert Burns, to Dr. Blacklock
- Faint heart ne'er won fair lady.
- 1789, Robert Burns, to Dr. Blacklock
- Barely perceptible; not bright, or loud, or sharp
- Performed, done, or acted, weakly; not exhibiting vigor, strength, or energy
- Slight; minimal.
- 2005, Lesley Brown (translator), Plato, Sophist, 243b.
- do you have the faintest understanding of what they mean?
- 2005, Lesley Brown (translator), Plato, Sophist, 243b.
Derived terms
- damn with faint praise
- fainten
- faint-hearted
- faintish
- faintling
- faintly
- faintness
Translations
Noun
faint (plural faints)
- The act of fainting, syncope.
- (rare) The state of one who has fainted; a swoon.
Derived terms
- faintful
- faintless
- faintsome
Translations
Etymology 2
From Middle English fainten, feynten, from the adjective (see above).
Verb
faint (third-person singular simple present faints, present participle fainting, simple past and past participle fainted)
- (intransitive) To lose consciousness through a lack of oxygen or nutrients to the brain, usually as a result of suddenly reduced blood flow (may be caused by emotional trauma, loss of blood or various medical conditions).
- If I send them away fasting […] they will faint by the way.
- September 22 1713, Richard Steele, The Guardian No. 167
- But upon hearing the Honour which he intended her , she fainted away , and fell down as Dead at his Feet
- (intransitive) To lose courage or spirit; to become depressed or despondent.
- (intransitive) To decay; to disappear; to vanish.
- November 12, 1711, Alexander Pope, letter to Henry Cromwell
- Gilded clouds, while we gaze upon them, faint before the eye.
- November 12, 1711, Alexander Pope, letter to Henry Cromwell
Synonyms
- (to lose consciousness): pass out, swoon, sweb, black out, keel over
- queal
Translations
Further reading
- faint in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- faint in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- faint at OneLook Dictionary Search
Anagrams
- Fanti, fitna
Cimbrian
Etymology
From Middle High German v?nt, v?ent, v?ant, from Old High German f?ant, f?and, from Proto-Germanic *fijandz (“enemy, fiend”). Cognate with German Feind, English fiend.
Noun
fàint m (plural fainte)
- (Sette Comuni) enemy, fiend
References
- “faint” in Martalar, Umberto Martello; Bellotto, Alfonso (1974) Dizionario della lingua Cimbra dei Sette Communi vicentini, 1st edition, Roana, Italy: Instituto di Cultura Cimbra A. Dal Pozzo
Welsh
Alternative forms
- pa faint (literary)
Etymology
Shortened from pa faint (“what amount”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /vai?nt/
Pronoun
faint
- how much, how many
Usage notes
Faint means either how many, followed by o and the plural form of a noun with soft mutation, or how much, preceding o and the singular form of a noun, again with soft mutation. Sawl corresponds only to English how many and is followed by the singular form of a noun.
faint From the web:
- what faint means
- what fainting feels like
- what fainting looks like
- what fainting
- what faint line means
- what fainting is like
- what fainting is a symptom of
- what does faint mean
gentle
English
Etymology
From Middle English gentil (“courteous, noble”), from Old French gentil (“high-born, noble”), from Latin gentilis (“of the same family or clan”), from gens (“[Roman] clan”). Doublet of gentile and genteel.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /?d??ntl?/
- (General American) enPR: j?n?tl, IPA(key): /?d??ntl?/, [?d??????l?]
- Hyphenation: gen?tle
Adjective
gentle (comparative gentler or more gentle, superlative gentlest or most gentle)
- Tender and amiable; of a considerate or kindly disposition.
- Soft and mild rather than hard or severe.
- Docile and easily managed.
- a gentle horse
- Gradual rather than steep or sudden.
- Polite and respectful rather than rude.
- (archaic) Well-born; of a good family or respectable birth, though not noble.
- 1823, Walter Scott, Peveril of the Peak
- "You are of gentle blood," she said […]
- 1893-1897, Charles Kendal Adams (editor), Johnsons Universal Encyclopedia
- British society is divided into nobility, gentry, and yeomanry, and families are either noble, gentle, or simple.
- 1823, Walter Scott, Peveril of the Peak
Synonyms
- (polite): friendly, kind, polite, respectful
Antonyms
- (polite): rude
Derived terms
Translations
Verb
gentle (third-person singular simple present gentles, present participle gentling, simple past and past participle gentled)
- (intransitive) to become gentle
- 2013, Kathryn L.M. Reynolds, Garland Roses, Kathryn L.M. Reynolds (?ISBN), page 226
- “She's experienced a horrific and nasty scare and is in a state of shock, but otherwise she's relatively okay.” Conrad replied, his tone at first grim (as he recalled what he'd seen in the family room) and then it gentled to a more doctorial tone as he directed his next comments to his patient.
- 2013, Kathryn L.M. Reynolds, Garland Roses, Kathryn L.M. Reynolds (?ISBN), page 226
- (transitive, obsolete) to ennoble
- c. 1599, Henry V, by Shakespeare, Act IV Scene III
- […] For he to-day that sheds his blood with me / Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile, / This day shall gentle his condition […]
- c. 1599, Henry V, by Shakespeare, Act IV Scene III
- (transitive, animal husbandry) to break; to tame; to domesticate
- 2008, Frank Leslie, The Killing Breed, Penguin (?ISBN)
- Yakima could have tried to catch him, gentle him as Wolf had been gentled, but having two stallions in his cavvy would lead to a different kind of trouble.
- 2008, Frank Leslie, The Killing Breed, Penguin (?ISBN)
- (transitive) To soothe; to calm; to make gentle.
- 1996, William C. Loring, An American Romantic-realist Abroad: Templeton Strong and His Music, Scarecrow Press (?ISBN), page 201
- A hornist, his playing gentled by perspective, is out of sight within the woods, but his notes are heard through or over the murmuring mix of bird song and breeze in leaves.
- 1996, William C. Loring, An American Romantic-realist Abroad: Templeton Strong and His Music, Scarecrow Press (?ISBN), page 201
Noun
gentle (plural gentles)
- (archaic) A person of high birth.
- 2012, Lizzie Stark, Leaving Mundania: Inside the Transformative World of Live Action Role-Playing Games, Chicago Review Press (?ISBN), page 43:
- While actual medieval societies were full of lots of peasants and a few rich and noble gentles, SCA personas tend to be nobles rather than commoners.
- 2012, Lizzie Stark, Leaving Mundania: Inside the Transformative World of Live Action Role-Playing Games, Chicago Review Press (?ISBN), page 43:
- (fishing) A maggot used as bait by anglers.
- A trained falcon, or falcon-gentil.
gentle From the web:
- what gentle mean
- what gentlemen do
- what gentleman means
- what loneliness means
- what gentle form of affection are you
- what gentleman do
- what does gentle mean
- what does it mean when someone calls you gentle
you may also like
- faint vs gentle
- fancy vs florid
- nip vs tighten
- small vs choice
- gigantic vs inexhaustible
- impartial vs due
- disrespectful vs haughty
- design vs spur
- solicitude vs assiduity
- action vs argument
- unrestrained vs unbounded
- toiler vs subordinate
- carefully vs intently
- feeble vs petty
- strength vs heyday
- solemness vs tranquillity
- original vs initiatory
- ball vs disco
- bloodthirsty vs bellicose
- nonsensical vs cretinous