Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 11th Edition
FAINT
I. adjective see: feign
Date: 14th century
lacking courage and spirit ; cowardly , weak, dizzy, and likely to faint, lacking strength or vigor ; performed, offered, or accomplished weakly or languidly , producing a sensation of faintness ; oppressive ,
5. hardly perceptible ; dim , vague 2a , faintish adjective faintishness noun faintly adverb faintness noun
II. intransitive verb
Date: 14th century
to lose courage or spirit, to become weak, to lose consciousness because of a temporary decrease in the blood supply to the brain,
III. noun
Date: 1792
the physiological action of fainting