swoon

swoon · noun¹

1. Middle English · inherited fromswoune
2. English todayswoon

From Middle English swoune, swone, from the verb (see below).

swoon · verb²

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*sweh₂gʰ-
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*swōganą“to make a noise”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*swōgan
4. Old English · derived fromġeswōgen“insensible, senseless, dead”
5. Middle English · inherited fromswounen
6. English todayswoon

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.

Words from the same roots