fain

See also: Fain

English

Pronunciation

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• IPA^(key): /feɪn/
• Rhymes: -eɪn
• Homophones: feign, fane, foehn

Etymology 1

From Middle English fain, from Old English fægen, from Proto-Germanic *faganaz (“glad”), from Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- (“to make pretty, please oneself”); akin to Old Norse feginn (“glad, joyful”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌲𐌹𐌽𐍉𐌽 (faginōn, “to rejoice”), Old Norse fagna (“to rejoice”).

Adjective

fain (comparative more fain, superlative most fain)

1. (archaic) Well-pleased, glad.
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter primum, in Le Morte Darthur, book XVII:

     Thus Gawayne and Ector abode to gyder / For syre Ector wold not awey til Gawayne were hole / & the good knyȝt Galahad rode so long tyll he came that nyghte to the Castel of Carboneck / & hit befelle hym thus / that he was benyghted in an hermytage / Soo the good man was fayne whan he sawe he was a knyght erraunt

2. (archaic) Satisfied, contented.
   • 1883, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, A Death-Parting, line 11, Poems:

     O love, of my death my life is fain,

3. (archaic) Eager, willing or inclined to.
   • c. 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 2, Act II scene i^[1]:

     Men and birds are fain of climbing high.

   • (Can we date this quote by Jeremy Taylor and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     To a busy man, temptation is fain to climb up together with his business.

4. (archaic) Obliged or compelled to.

Quotations

• 1900, Ernest Dowson, To One in Bedlam, lines 9-10

  O lamentable brother! if those pity thee, / Am I not fain of all thy lone eyes promise me;

Translations

glad

• Bulgarian: охотен (bg) (ohoten), склонен (bg) (sklonen)

• Dutch: gevallig

satisfied

• Bulgarian: доволен (bg) (dovolen)

• Dutch: tevreden (nl)
• Hungarian: elégedett (hu)

Etymology 2

From Middle English fain, fayn, feyn, from the adjective (see above).

Adverb

fain (comparative fainer, superlative fainest)

1. (archaic) With joy; gladly.
   • c. 1598-99, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act III scene v^[2]:

     Leonato: I would fain know what you have to say.

   • 1633, John Donne, Holly Sonnets, XIV:

     Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain, / But am betroth’d unto your enemy

   • 1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe:

     The second thing I fain would have had was a tobacco-pipe, but it was impossible to me to make one…

2. (archaic) By will or choice.
   • c. 1610-11, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act I scene i^[3]:

     Gonzalo: Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren ground— long heath, brown furze, anything. The wills above be done, but I would fain die a dry death.

Translations

gladly

• Bulgarian: охотно (bg) (ohotno)
• Dutch: graag (nl), met (nl) plezier (nl)
• French: volontiers (fr)

• German: gern (de)
• Russian: ра́достно (ru) (rádostno), охо́тно (ru) (oxótno), с (s) удовольствием (udovolʹstvijem) (s udovólʼstvijem)
• Swedish: gärna (sv)

Etymology 3

From Middle English fainen, from Old English fæġenian, from Proto-West Germanic *faginōn, from Proto-Germanic *faginōną.

Verb

fain (third-person singular simple present fains, present participle faining, simple past and past participle fained)

1. (archaic) To be delighted or glad; to rejoice.
2. (archaic) To gladden.

Translations

be delighted

• Dutch: zich (nl) verheugen (nl)

• Japanese: 快く (kokoroyoku)

gladden

• Dutch: verheugen (nl), blij (nl) maken (nl)

Anagrams

• an if, fina, naif, naïf

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Dalmatian

Etymology

From Latin fīnis, fīnem.

Noun

fain m

1. end

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Middle English

Etymology

From Old English fæġen, from Proto-Germanic *faganaz (“glad”). The adverb is transferred from the adjective.

Adjective

fain

1. joyful, happy
2. willing, eager
3. pleasing, enjoyable, attractive

Alternative forms

• fagen, vain, fawe, fawen, vawe, fein, fane, fayn, fayne, vayn, feyn

Adverb

fain

1. gladly, joyfully
2. willingly, eagerly

Alternative forms

• fayn, faʒe, fawe, fawen, vawe, fene, vain, vayn, vein, veyn, vane, wane

Descendants

• English: fain
• Scots: fain

References

• “fain, adj.” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
• “fain, adv.” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

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Norman

Etymology

From Old French foin, fein, from Latin faenum.

Noun

fain m (uncountable)

1. (Jersey) hay

Derived terms

• fagot d'fain (“bundle of hay”)

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Old French

Alternative forms

• faim

Etymology

From Latin famēs.

Noun

fain f (nominative singular fain)

1. hunger

Descendants

• French: faim

Related terms

• famine

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Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from German fein.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fajn/

Adjective

fain m or n (feminine singular faină, masculine plural faini, feminine and neuter plural faine)

1. cool, fine, of good quality

Declension

Declension of fain

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	fain		faină	faini	faine
	definite	fainul		faina	fainii	fainele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	fain		faine	faini	faine
	definite	fainului		fainei	fainilor	fainelor

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Romansch

Alternative forms

• (Sursilvan) fein
• (Sutsilvan, Surmiran) fagn

Etymology

From Latin faenum.

Noun

fain m

1. (Rumantsch Grischun, Puter, Vallader) hay

Derived terms

• (Rumantsch Grischun) far fain
• (Puter) fer cul fain
• (Vallader) far cun fain

Related terms

• (Rumantsch Grischun, Sutsilvan) fanar

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Siar-Lak

Noun

fain

1. woman

Further reading

• Malcolm Ross, Proto Oceanic and the Austronesian Languages of Western Melanesia, Pacific Linguistics, series C-98 (1988)