fain
See also: Fain
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- faine (obsolete)
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Middle English fain, from Old English fægen, from Proto-Germanic *faganaz (“glad”), from Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- (“to make pretty, please oneself”); akin to Old Norse feginn (“glad, joyful”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌲𐌹𐌽𐍉𐌽 (faginōn, “to rejoice”), Old Norse fagna (“to rejoice”).[1]
AdjectiveEdit
fain (comparative more fain, superlative most fain)
- (archaic) Well-pleased, glad.
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “primum”, in Le Morte Darthur, book XVII:
- Thus Gawayne and Ector abode to gyder
For syre Ector wold not awey til Gawayne were hole
& the good knyȝt Galahad rode so long tyll he came that nyghte to the Castel of Carboneck
& hit befelle hym thus
that he was benyghted in an hermytage
Soo the good man was fayne whan he sawe he was a knyght erraunt- (please add an English translation of this quote)
- (archaic) Satisfied, contented.
- 1883, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, A Death-Parting, line 11, Poems[1]:
- O love, of my death my life is fain,
- (archaic) Eager, willing or inclined to.
- 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 125, column 2:
- Man and Birds are fayne of climbing high.
- 1651, Jer[emy] Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Francis Ashe […], →OCLC:
- To a busy man, temptation is fain to climb up together with his business.
- 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XI, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 223:
- She who would fain give the starry worlds to the object of her affection—it is a fine and beautiful pride which makes her shrink from aught of benefit from him.
- (archaic) Obliged or compelled to.
QuotationsEdit
- 1900, Ernest Dowson, To One in Bedlam, lines 9-10:
- O lamentable brother! if those pity thee,
Am I not fain of all thy lone eyes promise me;
SynonymsEdit
AntonymsEdit
- (eager): averse, disinclined, reluctant, unwilling
TranslationsEdit
Etymology 2Edit
From Middle English fain, fayn, feyn, from the adjective (see above).
AdverbEdit
fain (comparative fainer, superlative fainest)
- (archaic) With joy; gladly.
- 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v]:
- Leonato: I would faine know what you haue to ſay.
- 1633, John Donne, Holly Sonnets, XIV:
- Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betroth’d unto your enemy
- 1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], 3rd edition, London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], published 1719, →OCLC:
- The second thing I fain would have had was a tobacco-pipe, but it was impossible to me to make one…
- 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, chapter XXV, in She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
- ["]Fain would I add to my beauty and my length of days if that be possible.["]
- 1891, George Du Maurier, Peter Ibbetson[2]:
- […] and fain would I inhale it in all its pristine fulness and vigour.
- (archaic) By will or choice.
- 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 1:
- Gonzalo: Now would I giue a thouſand furlongs of Sea, for an Acre of barren ground: Long heath, Browne firrs, any thing; the wills aboue be done, but I would faine dye a dry death.
TranslationsEdit
gladly
Etymology 3Edit
From Middle English fainen, from Old English fæġenian, from Proto-West Germanic *faginōn, from Proto-Germanic *faginōną.
VerbEdit
fain (third-person singular simple present fains, present participle faining, simple past and past participle fained)
TranslationsEdit
ReferencesEdit
- ^ “fain”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
AnagramsEdit
DalmatianEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Latin fīnis, fīnem.
NounEdit
fain m
Middle EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old English fæġen, from Proto-Germanic *faganaz (“glad”). The adverb is transferred from the adjective.
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
fain
Alternative formsEdit
AdverbEdit
fain
Alternative formsEdit
DescendantsEdit
ReferencesEdit
- “fain, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
- “fain, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
NormanEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old French foin, from earlier fein, from Latin fēnum, from faenum.
NounEdit
fain m (uncountable)
Derived termsEdit
- fagot d'fain (“bundle of hay”)
Old FrenchEdit
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
NounEdit
fain f (nominative singular fain)
Related termsEdit
DescendantsEdit
- French: faim
RomanianEdit
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
fain m or n (feminine singular faină, masculine plural faini, feminine and neuter plural faine)
- (Transylvania) cool, fine, of good quality
DeclensionEdit
RomanschEdit
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Latin fēnum, from faenum.
NounEdit
fain m
Derived termsEdit
- (Rumantsch Grischun) far fain
- (Puter) fer cul fain
- (Vallader) far cun fain
Related termsEdit
- (Rumantsch Grischun, Sutsilvan) fanar
Siar-LakEdit
NounEdit
fain
Further readingEdit
- Malcolm Ross, Proto Oceanic and the Austronesian Languages of Western Melanesia, Pacific Linguistics, series C-98 (1988)