fain

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /feɪn/ UK /feɪn/ See IPA manual

Homophones

Minimal pairs

Sounds like fen /ɛ/ vs /eɪ/

Meanings

1

adv
(archaic) gladly or willingly; eager

He would fain have stayed, but duty called him away.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adv · (archaic) gladly or... gladly willingly eagerly readily desirous

Opposites

unwillingly reluctantly loath

Etymology

From Old English faegen ('glad, joyful'), from Proto-Germanic *faginaz ('happy, content'), from Proto-Indo-European *peyk- ('joyful, content'). Cognate with fawn.

faegen Old English *faginaz Proto-Germanic *peyk- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Register & Style

External links

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