From Middle English swoune, swone, from the verb (see below).
Meanings
A faint.
"I felt my strength fading away, and I was in a half swoon. How long this horrible thing lasted I know not, but it seemed that a long time must have passed before he took his foul, awful, sneering mouth away. I saw it drip with the fresh blood!" 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable and Company, […], →OCLC:
She dandled it, and dancet it up and doune, / Not ceasing till she rais'd it from his swoune. 1593, Thomas Nashe, The Choice of Valentines, lines 138-139:
As he drew near the throne, a rushing whirlwind arose in the corner of the hall and, lo! from the roof beams floated down a monstrous black serpent that coiled itself up on the very seat of majesty. The Emperor fell in a swoon. 14th century CE, Guanzhong, L., “1. Three Heroes Swear Brotherhood In The Peach Garden; One Victory Shatters The Rebels In Battlegrounds.”, in Brewitt-Taylor, C. H., transl., Romance of the Three Kingdoms, published 1925, archived from the original on 25 Jan 2022:
ru поте́ря созна́ния (a faint) · gd neul (a faint) · it spasmo (a faint) · ru о́бморок (a faint) · ga támh (a faint) · de Ohnmacht (a faint) · ga néal (a faint) · pt desmaio (a faint) · fi tajuttomuus (a faint) · gl pasamento (a faint) · ga aisnéal (a faint) · es deliquio (a faint) · gl trastavai (a faint) · gl agavante (a faint) · ga fanntais (a faint) · cs mdloby (a faint) · sv svimningsanfall (a faint) · te మూర్ఛ (a faint) · es desmayo (a faint) · gl desmaio (a faint) · ar إِغْمَاء (a faint) · ca desmai (a faint) · bg припадък (a faint) · sv svimning (a faint) · fr pâmoison (a faint) · grc λιποθυμία (a faint) · gl testabau (a faint) · sh нѐсвестица (a faint) · cmn 昏厥 (a faint) · ja 気絶 (a faint) · ga laige (a faint) · nl bezwijming (a faint) · sh nèsvestica (a faint) · gl dada (a faint) · ja 失神 (a faint) · ga támhnéal (a faint)
From Middle English swounen, swonen (“to faint”), and aswoune (“in a swoon”), both ultimately from Old English ġeswōgen (“insensible, senseless, dead”), past participle of swōgan (“to make a sound, overrun, suffocate”) (compare Old English āswōgan (“to cover over, overcome”)), from Proto-West Germanic *swōgan, from Proto-Germanic *swōganą (“to make a noise”), from Proto-Indo-European *sweh₂gʰ-.
Cognates
Cognate with German Low German swogen, swögen (“to faint, sigh, groan”), Dutch zwoegen (“to groan, breathe heavily”), dialectal Norwegian søgja (“to whistle, hum, talk loudly”). More at sough.
Meanings
(literally) To faint, to lose consciousness.
"I swoon," quoth he.
I threw myself down on the island ground, like a dead man, and drowned in desolation swooned away, nor did I return to my senses till next morning, when the sun rose and revived me. 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 539:
He's got more than just mad skill / He's got a beaver tail and a bill. / And the women swoon whenever they hear him say… 2011 August 2, “Perry the Platypus”, in Phineas and Ferb: Across the 1st and 2nd Dimensions, performed by Randy Crenshaw, Walt Disney Records:
I dropped the vessel quickly to a lower level. Nor was I a moment too soon. The girl had swooned. 1913 January–May, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Gods of Mars”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as “A Fair Goddess”, in The Gods of Mars, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., September 1918, →OCLC, page 107:
(broadly) To be overwhelmed by emotion, especially infatuation.
(transitive) To overwhelm with emotion, especially infatuation.
That plush mustache of yours has completely swooned me! 2004, Intelligent Systems, translated by Nintendo of America, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Nintendo, GameCube, level/area: Boggly Woods:
To make a moan, sigh, or some other sound expressing infatuation or affection.
2013 (November 2), Pinky, 10 minutes into episode 25 ("The Spy Who Slimed Me") of TV series "Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures" per closed captions
[Swoons] For sure. He's totally dreamy. Uh--but my heart still belongs to you, Pac-ums.
The girls swooned at the picture of their favorite actor.
ru потеря́ть созна́ние (to faint — see also faint) · cmn 暈厥 /晕厥 (to faint — see also faint) · es desmayarse (to faint — see also faint) · uk мліти (to faint — see also faint) · ta மயங்கு (to faint — see also faint) · de in Verzückung geraten (to be overwhelmed by emotion) · nl zwijmelen (to be overwhelmed by emotion) · cmn 昏倒 (to faint — see also faint) · ru па́дать в о́бморок (to faint — see also faint) · cmn 昏厥 (to faint — see also faint) · uk мліти (to be overwhelmed by emotion) · cs omdlévat (to faint — see also faint) · ru упа́сть в о́бморок (to faint — see also faint) · uk непритомніти (to faint — see also faint) · ota بایلمق (to faint — see also faint) · ru теря́ть созна́ние (to faint — see also faint) · es derretirse (to be overwhelmed by emotion) · cs omdlít (to faint — see also faint) · uk непритомніти (to be overwhelmed by emotion) · uk втрачати свідомість (to faint — see also faint) · nl flauw vallen (to faint — see also faint) · cs padat do mdlob (to faint — see also faint) · de schwärmen (to be overwhelmed by emotion) · sv dåna (to be overwhelmed by emotion) · ja 気絶する (to faint — see also faint)