Very weak or barely noticeable; also describes a sudden loss of consciousness.
From Old French 'faint' or 'feint,' from Latin 'fingere' meaning 'to pretend' or 'to feign.' The meaning evolved from 'lacking courage' or 'cowardly' to 'weak' and eventually to 'barely perceptible' or 'losing consciousness,' with the fainting sense developing by the 14th century.
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