swound
1
9.9
- noun
- /swaʊnd/
- Archaic
:
desmayo
- 'Swounds, show me what thou wilt do.
Examples
-
Lady Sibyl: He has fallen into a swound, your grace.
Fiction book (1998) -
'Swounds I should take it, for it cannot be but I am pigeon-livered and lack gall to make oppression bitter, or ere this I should have fatted all the region kites with this slave's offal.
-
After the long and exhausting battle, he fell into a swound from sheer fatigue.
-
Upon hearing the shocking news, she went into a swound in front of her friends.
-
In the old tale, the princess fell into a deep swound after eating the poisoned apple.
Synonyms
7
6.8
A short fainting spell from weakness or strong emotion
3
9.9
A short time when a person faints because the brain lacks blood
How Unconscious
Surface Forms
Etymology
Swound is an old form of the word swoon, from an old English word meaning 'to fall into sleep' or 'to faint'. So a swound is like a sudden 'fall into sleep', which is why it means a faint.