Pronunciations
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/feɪn/
Pronunciation notes
- General-American
- Received-Pronunciation
Adjective
Often followed by of: glad, well-pleased.
Usage- UK usage
- Archaic
- dialectal
- Poetic
- Examples
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VVhat is the truſt or ſtrength of fooliſh man? / They that of late vvere daring vvith their ſcoffes, / Are glad and faine by flight to ſaue themſelues.
More examples (1)
The cantie, auld folks, crackin crouſe, / The young ones ranting thro' the houſe— / My heart has been ſae fain to ſee them, / That I for joy hae barkit vvi' them.
[F]ine words to make foolish maidens fain. But do not excuse it; it is your country-fashion, and we know how to treat it as such.
More examples (5)
Then mean I, that I should be wonderous fain / That shamefully they one and all were slain, / Whoever against Love mean aught amiss.
[M]y master is quite fain of his company.
O love, of my death my life is fain, / (The willows wave on the water-way,) / Your cheek and mine are cold in the rain, / But warm they'll be when we meet again. / (With a wind blown night and day.)
And fain and full was my heart, and I took him to my breast, / And I cherished him soft and warm, for I deemed I had gotten the best.
O lamentable brother! if those pity thee, / Am I not fain of all thy lone eyes promise me; / Half a fool's kingdom, far from men who sow and reap, / All their days vanity?
Often followed by of: glad, well-pleased. Glad, contented, or satisfied to do something in the absence of a better alternative.
Usage- UK usage
- Archaic
- dialectal
- Poetic
- Examples
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[T]hey vvere faine to patche uppe the Matter vvith a little piece of Paper clappid over the foreſaid VVordes, […]
By this heaunly ground I tread on, I muſt be faine to pavvne both my plate, & the tapeſtry of my dining chambers.
More examples (2)
[T]he Learned Caſtalio [i.e., Sebastian Castellio] vvas fain to make Trenchers at Baſle to keep himſelf from ſtarving, vvhen his [Michel de Montaigne's] Father vvould have given any Money for ſuch a Tutor for his Son, and Caſtalio have vvillingly embraced ſuch an Imployment upon very reaſonable Terms, but this vvas for vvant of Intelligence.
Having pledged herself to remain with her aunt to the end, Christbel was fain to make the best of her life at Mount Royal, and in order to do this she must needs keep on good terms with her cousin.
Often followed by of: glad, well-pleased. Compelled or obliged to.
Usage- UK usage
- Archaic
- broadly
- dialectal
- Poetic
- Examples
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Penker in his ſermõ [sermon] ſo loſt his voice that he was faine to leaue of [off] & come downe in the middes.
More examples (3)
[I]n this condition, he [Jesus] is fain to bear his burdenſom Croſs tovvards the place of his Execution, John 19. 17. till he vvas able to carry it no longer, but even fainted under it; […]
Many Plants are mention'd in Scripture vvhich are not diſtinctly knovvn in our Countries, or under ſuch Names in the Original, as they are fain to be rendred by analogy, or by the name of Vegetables of good affinity unto them, and ſo maintain the textual ſenſe, though in ſome variation from identity.
And the uſe of Fire-Guns in that taking of Conſtantinople is notorious, as you may ſee in Laonicus Chalcocondylas De Rebus Turcicis, one of the Byzantine Hiſtorians, lib. 7. vvho there makes mention of a Cannon of ſo vaſt a bigneſs, that it vvas fain to be dravvn by ſeventy yoke of Oxen and tvvo thouſand Men.
Chiefly followed by to, or (obsolete) for or of: eager or willing, or inclined.
Usage- UK usage
- Archaic
- dialectal
- Examples
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Man and Birds are fayne of climbing high.
Favourable, well-disposed.
Usage- Archaic
- Obsolete
- Examples
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More examples (1)
I felt a spirit of love begin to stir / Within my heart, long time unfelt till then; / And saw Love coming towards me, fair and fain, / (That I scarce knew him for his joyful cheer,) / Saying, "Be now indeed my worshipper!".
Accustomed, apt, wont.
Usage- Archaic
- Obsolete
- Examples
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More examples (2)
[S]carcely ſhe could ryde, / And eke through heauie armes, vvhich ſore annoyd / The Prince on foot, not vvonted ſo to fare; / VVhoſe ſteadie hand vvas faine his ſteede to guyde, / And all the vvay from trotting hard to ſpare, / So vvas his toyle the more, the more that vvas his care.
[T]o a buſie man temptation is fain to climbe up together vvith his buſineſſes, and ſins creep upon him onely by accidents and occaſions; vvhereas to an idle perſon they come in a full body, and vvith open violence, and the impudence of a reſtleſſe importunity.
Adverb
Chiefly preceded or followed by would. With joy or pleasure; gladly.
Usage- Archaic
- Obsolete
- Examples
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More examples (1)
And in her hand ſhe held a mirrhour bright, / VVherein her face ſhe often vevved fayne, / And in her ſelfe-lou'd ſemblance tooke delight; / For ſhe vvas vvondrous faire, as any liuing vvight.
How faine (like Pilate) would I wash my hands / Of this most greeuous murther.
I vvould faine knovv vvhat you haue to ſay.
More examples (7)
Yet dearely I love you, and vvould be lov'd faine, / But am betroth'd unto your enemie, […]
Hence it's evident, that vvere our Eyes turned into the Nature of Microſcopes, vve […] ſhou'd be derpiv'd of the foremention'd Advantage vve at preſent receive by the Viſive Faculty; and have left us only the empty Amuſement of Seeing, vvithout any other benefit ariſing from it. But in that Caſe, it vvill perhaps be ſaid, our Sight vvou'd be endued vvith a far greater Sharpneſs and Penetration than it novv hath. But I vvou'd fain knovv vvherein conſiſts that Sharpneſs, vvhich is eſteem'd ſo great an Excellency of Sight.
The Second Thing I vvould fain have had, vvas a Tobacco-Pipe, but it vvas impoſſible to me to make one, hovvever I found a Contrivance for that too at laſt.
She who would fain give the starry worlds to the object of her affection—it is a fine and beautiful pride which makes her shrink from aught of benefit from him.
And here, as I write, the faint, scarcely perceptible, ghost-like suspicion of a scent—a mere nostalgic fancy, compound, generic, synthetic and all-embracing—an abstract olfactory symbol of the "Tout Paris" of fifty years ago, comes back to me out of the past; and fain would I inhale it in all its pristine fulness and vigour.
A heavy weight is on his lids, / His limbs move slow with heaviness, / And he full fain would sleep.
[S]he taketh her hands in her hands and kisseth her sweet and fain: […]
Chiefly preceded or followed by would. By choice or will; willingly.
Usage- Archaic
- Obsolete
- Synonyms
- Examples
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More examples (2)
Now vvould I giue a thouſand furlongs of Sea, for an Acre of barren ground: Long heath, Brovvne firrs, any thing; the vvills aboue be done, but I vvould faine dye a dry death.
For to tell you truth, I love him [Jesus], because I vvas by him eaſed of my burden, and I am vveary of my invvard ſickneſs; I vvould fain be vvhere I ſhall die no more, and vvith the Company that ſhall continually cry Holy, Holy, Holy.
See now, I will for the second time bathe me in this living bath. Fain would I add to my beauty and my length of days if that be possible.
More examples (1)
As a matter of fact, although Woman means everything to Man’s sexuality, and is the embodiment of all that his reproductive instinct can desire, even when it is at its keenest, Man means very little to Woman. He is, after all, no more than the sparking-plug that sets an elaborate process going, and the brief moment in which his share in her business is accomplished, and the incomplete pleasure it affords her, are ridiculously insignificant when compared with the importance he himself would fain attach to them.
Verb
To be delighted or glad about (someone or something); to rejoice in; also, to favour or prefer (someone or something).
Usage- Archaic
- Obsolete
- Rare
- Transitive
- Examples
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More examples (1)
Hovv often vvould the Svvaines prepare their Morrice & their May / To haue a ſight of her, vvhen all enamoured vvent their vvay? / The ſprevvſeſt Citie-Lads for her vvould faine the Countrie-aire, / And that their prouder Girles had but adultrate beauties ſvvaire, […]
To make (someone) glad; to gladden; hence, to congratulate (someone); to welcome (someone).
Usage- Archaic
- Obsolete
- Transitive
To celebrate or worship; specifically, to offer an oblation which is not a sacrificial blót (“ceremonial offering”).
Usage- Germanic
- Archaic
- Intransitive
- Obsolete
Chiefly followed by of, in, on, or to: to be delighted or glad; to rejoice.
Usage- Archaic
- Intransitive
- Obsolete
- Examples
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More examples (1)
A diſtaffe in her other hand ſhe had, / Vpon the vvhich ſhe litle ſpinnes, but ſpils, / And faynes to vveaue falſe tales and leaſings bad, / To throvv amongſt the good, vvhich others had diſprad.
To desire, to wish.
Usage- Archaic
- Intransitive
- Obsolete
Adjective
having made preparations
- Examples
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prepared to take risks
Adverb
with pleasure
- Examples
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this was gladly agreed to
I would fain do it