verb / noun

swoon

SWOON/swuːn/

A brief loss of consciousness.

The young man falls into a swoon as the older woman catches him.

A young man faints beside a chair, his knees buckling and arms hanging limp as an older woman catches and supports his upper body.

Etymology

swoonMiddle Englishto become unconscious

Middle English swounen meant becoming unconscious. The emotional sense extends that literal fainting to a feeling so overwhelming that it resembles losing one's senses.

In context

Libranima360:21

she will swoon, the damsel will fetch water, much distressed because morning approaches, and for the honour of her lady he would not that they were discovered; at last the princess will come to herself

Don Quixote - Cervantes (Illustrated Audiobook) Part 1 of 4

More examples

He swooned at the sight of blood and quickly came around.
After a brief swoon, she opened her eyes on the floor.
The actor swoons onstage, and another character catches him.

Forms

swoon · swoons · swooned · swooning

Similar words

faint: The more common everyday word for briefly losing consciousness.
syncope: A medical term for a brief loss of consciousness.