fain.
Often followed by of: glad, well-pleased.
Meaning & usage
Often followed by of: glad, well-pleased.
Often followed by of: glad, well-pleased. Glad, contented, or satisfied to do something in the absence of a better alternative.
Often followed by of: glad, well-pleased. Compelled or obliged to.
Chiefly followed by to, or (obsolete) for or of: eager or willing, or inclined.
Favourable, well-disposed.
Accustomed, apt, wont.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English fain (“enjoyable, pleasing; fond of; glad, pleased; good, suitable; happy, joyful”), from Old English fægen (“happy, joyful, fain”), from Proto-West Germanic *fagan (“glad”), from Proto-Germanic *faganaz (“glad”), from Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- (“joyful; pretty”). Cognates * Old Norse fagna (“to rejoice”), feginn (“glad, joyful”) * Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌲𐌹𐌽𐍉𐌽 (faginōn, “to rejoice”) * Old High German fehan, gifehan (“to rejoice”) * Old Saxon fagan, fagin
Chiefly preceded or followed by would. With joy or pleasure; gladly.
Chiefly preceded or followed by would. By choice or will; willingly.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English fain (“eagerly, willingly; gladly, joyfully”), from fain (adjective): see etymology 1.
To be delighted or glad about (someone or something); to rejoice in; also, to favour or prefer (someone or something).
To make (someone) glad; to gladden; hence, to congratulate (someone); to welcome (someone).
To celebrate or worship; specifically, to offer an oblation which is not a sacrificial blót (“ceremonial offering”).
Chiefly followed by of, in, on, or to: to be delighted or glad; to rejoice.
To desire, to wish.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English fainen (“to be glad or joyful, rejoice; to make happy, gladden; to welcome; of an animal: to show happiness, as by wagging the tail; to act fawningly or flatteringly”), from Old English fæġnian (“to be glad, rejoice; to celebrate; to be delighted with, applaud; to wish for”), from Proto-West Germanic *faginōn (“to be glad, rejoice; to make glad, gladden”), from Proto-Germanic *faginōną (“to be glad, rejoice”), from *faganaz (“glad”): see further at etymology 1. Doublet of fawn.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.