French word

évanouir

Pronunciation

IPA/evanwiʁ/

Meaning

  • verbfaint

Example

Elle s'est évanouie en voyant le sang.

She fainted when she saw the blood.

Illustration for évanouir (faint)

More examples

Il a failli s'évanouir après une longue journée de travail.

He nearly fainted after a long day at work.

Core concept

A person's awareness suddenly drops out, then returns after a short interval.

Common phrases

  • s'évanouir

    faint

  • s'évanouir de fatigue

    faint from fatigue

  • s'évanouir de peur

    faint from fear

Similar words

tomber dans les pommes: To faint, in a casual everyday expression.
perdre connaissance: To lose consciousness and become unresponsive.
s'endormir: To fall asleep.

Definition in French

Perdre conscience de façon soudaine et brève.

Word origin

French évanouir derives through Old French esvanouir from Latin evanescere, 'to vanish', and modern usage applies that idea to consciousness.

Usage tips

  • For the meaning 'to faint', French normally uses the pronominal form s'évanouir: Elle s'est évanouie.

Opposites

  • reprendre connaissanceregain consciousnessverb

Related words

  • évanouissementfaintingnoun
  • évanouiunconsciousadjective

Word lists with this word