▪ I. swoon, n.
(swuːn)
Forms: 4 north. suun, squowen, -in, 4–5 swon-e, swoun-e, swown-e, (5 swon, swonne ?, suoun), 5–6 swone, swown, 5–7 swoun(e, swowne, (6 Sc. swne, 7 swoone), 7– swoon.
[Orig. in phr. in swoune, etc. (sense 1), alteration of a swoun, aswoon, q.v.; otherwise f. swoon v. Cf. the parallel swow and aswough, aswowe.
In the following quot. the spelling swoon is used where the rime requires swound,
1682 N. O. Boileau's Lutrin ii. 16 Thus spoke our Lover whining, plain and round, And clos'd her speech with an half-dying swoon.]
1. The action of swooning or the condition of one who has swooned; syncope. a. Without article, in phr. to fall, lie in (occas. on, of) swoon. arch.
| 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 557 Adoun he fel a-swounie; & when he gan to dawei [etc.]. c 1386 Chaucer Doctor's T. 245 And with that word she fil aswowne [v.rr. on swoune, on swoun, a swoun, in swoune] anon. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 310 For sorwe a swoune [v.r. aswoune] he overthrew, That noman wiste in him no lif. [For later examples see aswoon.] |
| a 1300 Cursor M. 11722 Þai fell in suun al þat þar war. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 1180 A longeyng heuy me strok in swone [rimes regioun, etc.]. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 7289 Þai salle..deghe ever-mare lyfand with-alle, Als men dose þat we se in swowne falle. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 249 And with that word sche gan doun falle On [v.rr. Of, Inne] swoune. a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 734 (Dublin MS.) [She] drowpys doun in swone. c 1440 Generydes 4095 Clarionas.. fylle down in swoune [rime doon = down]. c 1480 Henryson Mor. Fab., Swallow, etc. xxxvii, That bludie bowcheour beit thay birdis doun..Sum with ane staf he straik to eirth on swoun. c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn iv. 19 They were bothe fal in swone. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) I. 408 Helmes wer hewin to the schulderis doun, Rycht mony suelt and mony fell in swoun. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 208 The king..was sa brucklit in his harnis witht the fall that he fell in deidlie swne. 1856 Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh i. 570 As one in swoon, To whom life creeps back in the form of death. |
b. In particularized use: A fainting-fit.
| 1390 Gower Conf. III. 371, I was out of mi swoune affraied. 14.. Sir Beues 2753 + 77 (MSS. S. & N.) Of his swon sir B. awooke. c 1440 Generydes 2359 He bledde so fast that he felle in A swonne [rime sone]. c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn iv. 20 After that they had layen in a swoune a goode while. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxvii. 231 They came to Esclaramonde, who lay on y⊇ erth in a swone. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage i. xviii. 82 And falling in a dead swowne, sinketh downe with horror. 1653 R. Lovell in Nicholas Papers (Camden) II. 36 M{supr} D[ean] Cosens, as hee was readeing evening prayer, fell down in a swoone. 1664 H. More Apology 503 No heart could escape from being struck into a swoun at the sight of so overcoming a Beauty and Majesty. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. 12, I was so surprized, that I fell down in a Swoon. 1833 Tennyson Eleänore 134 Then, as in a swoon, With dinning sound my ears are rife. 1865 Kingsley Herew. vii, The knight, awakening from his swoon, struggled violently..to escape. |
| fig. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage vi. viii. 498 A swoune meane-while did Rome sustaine. 1643 Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. 66, I wonder..in what swoun their Reasons lay, to content themselves..with such a..ridiculous reason as Plutarch alleadgeth for it. a 1677 Barrow Serm. Wks. 1716 I. 269 Anger (that swoon of reason). 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam ii. xiv. 4 Like a sulphurous hill, Which on a sudden from its snows has shaken The swoon of ages. |
† 2. A (deep or sound) sleep. Obs. rare.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. i. 41 A trickling streame..Mixt with a murmuring winde, much like the sowne Of swarming Bees, did cast him in a swowne. Ibid. iii. vi. 7 Her selfe she layd To sleepe, the whiles a gentle slombring swowne Vpon her fell. |
▪ II. swoon, v.
(swuːn)
Forms: α. [3 suowene], 4 swowene, swoȝene, -y, swouȝne. β. 4–6 swoune, swowne, (4 suoun, squoen ?, swoune, 5 sqwowne), 7 swoun, 7, 9 swown. γ. 4–5 swone, (5 suone, swoyne), 5–7 swoone, 7– swoon.
[ME. swoȝene, swoȝeny, swowene, possibly a back-formation from swoȝning, swowening, swooning, q.v. Three types were developed: (1) swoune, swowne, which would have given mod. swown (swaʊn); (2) swōne, arising from loss of ȝ or w, whence the mod. swoon; cf. ME. woe for woȝe (OE. wóᵹian), and wooe by the side of wowe in Spenser; (3) sounye, soune, whence sound v.2]
1. intr. a. To fall into a fainting-fit; to faint.
| α [c 1290: see swooning vbl. n. 1.] 13.. K. Alis. 5841 (Laud MS.), Þe kyng swoȝened for þt wounde. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 1841 Þe geaunt..in his armes so hym wente þat Gogmagog gan to swowene. a 1375 Joseph Arim. 513 Mony swouȝninge lay þorw schindringe of scharpe. c 1400 St. Alexius 222 (Trin. MS.) To swoȝeny he be-gan. |
| β 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 468 Adoun he fel and swoune bigan. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xx. 104 Many a louely lady..Swouned and swelted for sorwe of dethes dyntes. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 872 Thisbe, And how sche lyth & swounnyth [v.rr. swowneth, souneth, suowneth, swouneth, swonyth, sowneth] on the grounde. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 4816 Wych shal..Maken hyre in Terys drowne, And offte sythes for to swowne. 1448–9 J. Metham Amoryus & Cleopes 399 As offtyn sqwowny[n]g, as I remembyr her bryght face. a 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 225 With that I seme for to swoune, thought I na swerf tak. 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. v. ii, Take my armour of quickly, 'twill make him swoune, I feare. 1601 ― Poetaster ii. ii. 192 Sometimes froward, and then frowning, Sometimes sickish, and then swowning. 1633 P. Fletcher Pisc. Ecl. iii. xx, So down he swowning sinks. a 1656 Bp. Hall Mourner in Sion Rem. Wks. (1660) 164 Those faint hearts that are ready to swoun away for the scratch of a finger. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. xvi, You pray that your Granny may have strength enough left her at the last..to get up from her bed and run and hide herself, and swown to death in a hole, sooner than [etc.]. |
| γ 13.. Cursor M. 14287 (Gött.) Till hir broþer graue scho gas, Þar forto suoun [Fairf. squoen, Trin. swowne]. c 1374 Chaucer Anel. & Arc. 169 (Shirley MS.) Sheo weopeþe wayleþe swooneþe [v.rr. swoneth, swouneth, swowneth] pytously. 1375 Barbour Bruce xvii. 648 (Edin. MS.) Sum ded, sum hurt, and sum swonand. c 1400 Destr. Troy 8046 [Bresaid] ay swonit in swyme, as ho swelt wold. c 1480 Henryson Mor. Fab., Fox, Wolf & Cadger xxxiii, He..hit him with sic will vpoun the heid, Quhill neir he swonit and swalt in to that steid. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxi. 466 Reynawde..was swoninge for sorowe. 1595 R. Johnson 7 Champions (1608) 60 His joy so exceeded that he swooned in his daughters bosome. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. iv. iii. 159 Many will swoon when they do look on bloud. 1697 Dryden æneid viii. 774 He said, and, swooning, sunk upon the ground. 1748 Anson's Voy. i. x. 101 This lassitude at last degenerates into a proneness to swoon. 1859 Dickens T. Two Cities ii. v, If a girl..swoons within a yard or two of a man's nose, he can see it without a perspective-glass. 1865 Tennyson Princess v. 533 Home they brought her warrior dead; She nor swoon'd, nor utter'd cry. |
b. fig. said of natural phenomena.
| 1818 Keats Endym. i. 286 Strange ministrant of undescribed sounds, That come a swooning over hollow grounds. 1833 Tennyson Lotos-eaters 5 All round the coast the languid air did swoon. 1875 Longfellow Birds of Passage iv. Amalfi 80 All the landscape seems to swoon In the happy afternoon. 1876 B. Harte Gabriel Conroy iii. viii, A sudden sense of some strange, subtle perfume..came swooning over him. |
c. To sink to or into a less active condition or a state of rest.
| 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 75 Till morn's long streaking shadows lose their tails, And cooling winds swoon into faultering gales. 1871 Rossetti Poems, Card-dealer i, Though its splendour swoon Into the silence languidly As a tune into a tune. 1887 Hall Caine Deemster xxxix, The light was gone and another day had swooned to another night. |
2. pass. To fall into a swoon; chiefly pa. pple. or ppl. a.: In a swoon.
| c 1450 Mirk's Festial 206 Scho nys not dede, but swownyd [v.r. sownyd] for drede. 1795 Jemima II. 175 Rosina..was swooned away in Levet's arms. 1820 Keats Lamia i. 132 He.., lighting on the printless verdure, turn'd To the swoon'd serpent. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. i. v. vi, She lies swooned on a paillasse. |