▪ I. swooning, vbl. n.
(ˈswuːnɪŋ)
Forms: see swoon v.
[ME. suoweningue, swoȝning, app. f. i-swowen, i-swoȝen swown pa. pple. + -ing1.]
1. Fainting, syncope.
| α c 1290 Mary Magd. 375 in S. Eng. Leg. 473 Ȝif is moder mouwe ȝuyt of hire suoweningue awake. a 1300 K. Horn 474 Rymenhild..Wakede of hire swoȝning [v.r. swowneynge.]. 13.. St. Alexius 142 (Trin. MS.) Þo hy of swoȝenynge a-ros [Laud MS. 463 þo she of swounynge ros]. |
| β a 1375 Joseph Arim. 543 He was in swounynge and fel to þe grounde. c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 1024 O which a pitous thyng it was to se Hir swownyng. 14.. Sir Beues (E.) 4313 + 88 Iosyan..Fyl on swownyng on þat grounde. c 1440 Generydes 6569 With that he fell in swounyng for very payn. 1544 T. Phaer Regim. Lyfe (1553) E iij, Swouning is a takinge awaie of the feeling and mouing of the bodi by weaknes of the hert. 1590 P. Barrough Meth. Phisick iii. iv. (1639) 105 When..venimous and gnawing humours be kept in the stomach..they cause swowning. |
| γ a 1300 Cursor M. 4202 He morn mare þan .i. can tell, Al-mast in suoning þar he fell. a 1400 Isumbras 656 And als sone als scho saw it with syghte, In swonyng than felle that swete wyghte. c 1420 Sir Amadace (Camden) lxvi, Doune on squonyng ther con thay falle. a 1500 Lancelot 2716 In swonyng thore he fell one to the ground. 1530 Palsgr. 278/2 Swonyng a disease, espaumure. 1650 W. D. tr. Comenius' Gate Lat. Unl. §302 Faintings, qualms, and swooning, are relieved by vinegar. 1656 J. Smith Pract. Physick 16 It differs from swooning, because in swooning the colour of the face is changed. 1822–7 Good Study Med. (1829) IV. 543 Vertigo..occasionally terminates in swooning; and..swooning is not unfrequently succeeded by vertigo. |
2. A swoon; a fainting-fit.
| 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 518, & seþþe me comeþ swouninges þre. c 1490 Plumpton Corr. (Camden) 83 Such sicknes my wyfe hath,..puts her in joperty of hir life with a swonnyng. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. ii. 158 In these his swounings, I did comfort my selfe, that if he should chance to dye [etc.]. 1671 Milton Samson 631 Thence faintings, swounings of despair. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 178 Swoonings and faint sweats. 1789 W. Buchan Dom. Med. liv. (1790) 621 Even disagreeable smells will sometimes occasion swoonings. 1815 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. x. (1818) I. 329 The Chinese, when about to speak in public..eat an ounce of it [sc. wax] to prevent swoonings. |
3. attrib., as swooning bed, swooning fit, swooning passion, swooning state; † swooning-ripe a., ready to swoon; † swooning-water, a ‘water’ used as a remedy for fainting.
| 1574 in MSS. Ld. Middleton (Hist. MSS. Comm. 1911) 447 To Mrs. Banyster for a swoninge water for my Mrs...vs. 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. iii. Furies 567 The Falling-sickness, and pale Swouning-passion. 1630–1 Milton On University Carrier ii. 17 On his swooning bed outstretch'd. 1652 C. B. Stapylton Herodian i. 6 But swooning ripe he backward fell in bed. 1694 Salmon Bate's Dispens. 180/2 Essentia Regia..a most odoriferous Essence..takes away Fainting, and Swooning Fits. 1880 Browning Dram. Idylls Ser. ii. Pan & Luna 90 First moon-eclipse.., first swooning-fit which puzzled sore The early sages. |
▪ II. swooning, ppl. a.
(ˈswuːnɪŋ)
[f. swoon v. + -ing2.]
That swoons or faints; characterized by swooning.
| 1646 N. Lockyer (title) England faithfully watcht with in her wounds, or Christ as a father sitting up with his children in their swooning state. 1820 Keats Lamia i. 219 She..fell into a swooning love of him. 1831 Scott Ct. Rob. xxxi, The father's attention was instantly called to support his swooning child. 1886 Symonds Renaiss. It., Cath. React. (1898) VII. xii. 201 A tone of swooning piety blent with sensuous luxuriousness. 1904 M. Hewlett Queen's Quair iii. ii. 366 She drowsed into a swooning sleep. |
Hence ˈswooningly adv.
| [c 1475 Partenay 3566 Zownyngly she fil wofully to grounde.] 1864 in Webster. |