164 F A I 
My lips will be fain when I fing unto thee, and fo will 
my foul whom thou haft delivered. Pfalm lxxi.—Forced; 
obliged ; compelled. [This fignification feems to have 
arifen from the miftakeof the original fignification in fome 
ambiguous expreflions : as, I was fain to do this, would 
equally fuit with the reft of the fentence, whether it was 
underftood to mean I was compelled, or I was glad to do it for 
fear of worfe. Thus the primary meaning feems to have 
beenearly loft. ]—Whofoever will hear, he (hall find God ; 
whofoever will ftudy to know, ftiall be alfo fain to be¬ 
lieve. Hooker. —The learned Caftalio was fain to make 
trenchers at Bafies to keep himfelf from ftarving. Locke. 
Every wight to ftiroud it did conftrain, 
And this fair couple eke to llnoud themfelves were fain. 
Sperfer. 
FATN, adv. Gladly; very defiroufty ; according to 
earned wifhes.—The plebeians would fain have a law 
enabled to lay all men’s rights and privileges upon the 
fame level. Swift. 
Fain would J Raphael’s godlike art rehearfe, 
And fliew th 5 immortal labours in my verfe. Addifon. 
To FAIN, v. n. To wifti ; to defire fondly : 
Fairer than faireft in his faining eye, 
Whole foie afpeCl he counts felicity. Spcnfcr on Love. 
To FAINT, v. n. [faner, Pr.jj To decay ; to wear or 
walte away quickly.—Gilded clouds, while we gaze upon 
them, faint before the eye, and decay into confufion. Pope. 
The fhow’ry arch 
Delights and puzzles the beholder’s eyes, 
That views the wat’ry brede with thoufand fliews 
Of painture vary’d, yetunlkill’d to tell 
Or where one colour rifes, or where one faints. Philips . 
To lofe the animal functions ; to fink motionlefs and 
fenfelefs.—Their young children were out of heart, and 
their women and young men fainted for third and fell 
down. Judith. —To grow feeble ; to decline in force or 
courage.—They will Hand in their order, and never faint 
in their watches. Ecclef. xliii. io. 
O pity and ftiarne, that they, who to live well 
Enter’d fo fair, fhould turnafide to tread 
Paths indirect, or in the midway faint. Milton . 
To fink into dejection: 
Left they faint 
At the fad fentence rigoroufiy urg’d, 
All terror hide. Milton. 
To FAINT, v. a. To dejeft; to deprefs; to enfeeble : 
It faints me 
To think what follows. Shakefpcare. 
FAINT, ad}. [ fane , Fr.] Languid ; weak ; feeble. 
— In intemperate climates, the fpirits, exhaled by heat or 
compreft by cold, are rendered/««£ and fluggifh. Temple. 
—Not bright ; not vivid ; not ftriking,—The blue com¬ 
pared with thefe is a faint and dark colour, and the in¬ 
digo and violet are much darker and fainter. Newton, 
From her naked limbs of glowing white, 
In folds loofe floating fell the fainter lawn. Thomfon. 
Not loud ; not piercing.—The pump after this being em¬ 
ployed from time to time, the found grew fainter and 
fainter. Boyle. —Feeble of body.—Two neighbouring fhep- 
herds faint with third, flood at the common boundary of 
their grounds. Rambler. —Cowardly ; timorous ; not vi¬ 
gorous ; not ardent.— Faint heart never won fair lady. 
Prov. in Camden’s Rem. 
Our faint Egyptians pray for Antony ; 
But in their fervile hearts they own Odlavius. Dryden. 
Dejected ; deprefled.—Confider him that endureth fuch 
contradiction again!! himfelf, left ye be wearied and faint 
in your minds. Heb. xii. 3.—Not vigorou ; not active.— 
F A I 
The defeChs which hindered the conqueft, were the faint 
profecution of the war, and the loofenefs of the civil go¬ 
vernment. Davies. 
“ Faint heart never won fair lady.”—This proverb 
fhould animate to conftancy and refolution in every ho¬ 
nourable purfuit. It intimates the injurioufnefs oflow- 
fpiritednefs and defpondency, in that a dejection of mind 
will, in all probability, always fruftrate fttccefs : for de- 
fpair and cowardice are the parents of ruin ; in that they 
difpirit a man, and enfeeble or enervate his whole frame. 
Le couard n’aura belle amie, fay the French. And indeed a 
low fpirited perfon, who is terrified with cafual difap- 
poinunents and difficulties, is as unfit for arms as for 
amours ; and even for civiL affairs too. While courage, 
on the other hand, furmounts even thofe difficulties which 
to appearance at firft feem infurmountable : for, Audentes 
fortuna jiivat, fay the Romans : AXAa 0i yap advymvlss au-gs; 
uoroh T(o7ra,icv, fay the Greeks. 
FAINT-AC’TION, J. in law, a feigned adtion ; fuch 
that although the words of the writ are true, yet for cer¬ 
tain caufes the plaintiff hath no title to recover thereby ; 
but a falfe adtion is properly where the words of the writ 
are falfe. Co. Lift. 361. 
FAINT-PLEA'DER, f. in law, a fraudulent, falfe, 
or colluforv, manner of pleading to the deceit of a third 
perfon ; againft which, among other things, was made the 
flat- 3 Edw. I. c. 19. 
FAINTHEART'ED, ad}. Cowardly ; timorous; de¬ 
jected ; eafily deprefled.—Faint not, neither be faint - 
hearted. Ifa. vii. 4. 
Villains, Hand off! bafe, groveling, worthlefs, wretches. 
Mongrels in faction: poor fainthearted traitors. Addifon. 
FAINTHEARTEDLY, adv. Timoroufly; in a cow¬ 
ardly manner. 
FAINTHEARTEDNESS, f. Cowardice; timorouf- 
nefs ; want of courage. 
FAINTING,/". Deliquium ; temporary lofs of ani¬ 
mal motion.—Thefe faintings her phyficians fufpect to 
proceed from contufions. WiJ'cman. 
FAINT'ISHNESS, f. Weakneis in a flight degree; 
incipient debility.—A certain degree of heat lengthens and 
relaxes the fibres, whence proceeds the fenfation of faint - 
ifinefs and debility in a hot day. Arbuthnot. 
FA1NTLING, ad}. Timorous; feebleminded. A 
burlefque or low word.—There’s no having patience, 
thou art fuch a faintling filly creature. Hijl. of John Bull. 
FAINT'LY, adv. Feebly; languidly: 
Love’s like a torch, which, if fecur’d from blafts. 
Will faintly burn ; but then it longer lafts : 
Expos’d to dorms of jealoufy and doubt, 
The blaze grows greater, but ’tis foon^r out. Waljk . 
Not in bright colours : 
Nature affords at leaf! a glimm’ring light; 
The lines, tho’ touch’d but faintly, are drawn right. Pope . 
Without force of reprefentation.—An obfeure and con- 
fnfed idea reprefents the object fo faintly, that it doth not 
appear plain to the mind. Watts. —Without rtrength of 
body : 
With his loll’d tongue he faintly licks his prey, 
His warm breath blows her flix up as fhe lies. Dryden. 
Not vigoroufly ; not actively. Timoroufly; withdejec- 
tion ; without fpirit : 
Loth was the ape, though praifed, to adventure ; 
Yet faintly ’gan into his work to enter. Hubbard's Tale, 
He faintly now declines the fatal flrife ; 
So much his love was dearer than his life. Denham, 
FAINT'NESS, f. Languor; feeblenefs ; want of 
flrength.—This proceeded not fromany violence of pain, 
but from a general languifhing and faintnefs of fpirits. 
Temple, —Inactivity ; want of vigour.—This evil proceeds 
rather 
