Where does “swoon” come from?

Swoon comes from Middle English swoune, whose origin and ultimate etymology remain unknown.

swoon (English): A faint; An infatuation; To faint, to lose...

Definitions

  1. A faint; An infatuation; To faint, to lose...

Ancestry of “swoon”, step by step

swoon traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle Low German swan

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Low Germanswan—
2Old Saxonswan—
3Proto-West Germanicswanswan
4Proto-Germanicswanazswan
5Proto-Indo-Europeanswenh₂-to sound

via Middle English swoune

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishswoune—

Words derived from “swoon”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European swenh₂- →Every word from Proto-Germanic swanaz →Every word from Proto-West Germanic swan →