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Fain vs Miss - What's the difference?

fain | miss |

As an adjective fain

is (label) well-pleased; glad; apt; wont; fond; inclined.

As an adverb fain

is (archaic) with joy; gladly.

As a verb fain

is (archaic) to be delighted or glad; to rejoice.

As a noun miss is

form of address for an unmarried woman.

fain

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • (label) Well-pleased; glad; apt; wont; fond; inclined.
  • *:
  • *:Thus Gawayne and Ector abode to gyder / For syre Ector wold not awey til Gawayne were hole / & the good kny?t Galahad rode so long tyll he came that nyghte to the Castel of Carboneck / & hit befelle hym thus / that he was benyghted in an hermytage / Soo the good man was fayne whan he sawe he was a knyght erraunt
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:Men and birds are fain of climbing high.
  • *(Jeremy Taylor) (1613–1677)
  • *:To a busy man, temptation is fain to climb up together with his business.
  • *(rfdate) (Dante Gabriel Rossetti), A Death-Parting , line 11
  • *:O love, of my death my life is fain ,
  • *1900 , (Ernest Dowson), To One in Bedlam , lines 9-10
  • *:O lamentable brother! if those pity thee, / Am I not fain of all thy lone eyes promise me;
  • (label) Satisfied; contented.
  • *{{quote-book, year=2004, author=W. Ross Winterowd
  • , title= Searching for Faith: A Skeptic's Journey , publisher=Parlor Press, quotee=(John Donne), Holy Sonnet XIV , isbn=9781932559309, page=29 , passage=Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain ,}}

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (archaic) With joy; gladly.
  • * 1599 ,
  • LEONATO: I would fain know what you have to say.
  • * 1633 , , XIV
  • Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain ,/ But am betroth’d unto your enemy
  • * 1719 ,
  • The second thing I fain would have had was a tobacco-pipe, but it was impossible to me to make one…

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (archaic) To be delighted or glad; to rejoice
  • (archaic) To gladden
  • References

    Anagrams

    * ----

    miss

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) missen, from (etyl) .

    Verb

    (es)
  • (ambitransitive) To fail to hit.
  • I missed the target.
    I tried to kick the ball, but missed .
  • * (Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)
  • Men observe when things hit, and not when they miss .
  • * (Edmund Waller) (1606-1687)
  • Flying bullets now, / To execute his rage, appear too slow; / They miss , or sweep but common souls away.
  • To fail to achieve or attain.
  • to miss an opportunity
  • * (John Locke) (1632-1705)
  • When a man misses his great end, happiness, he will acknowledge he judged not right.
  • To feel the absence of someone or something, sometimes with regret.
  • I miss you! Come home soon!
  • * (John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • What by me thou hast lost, thou least shalt miss .
  • *
  • The boy became volubly friendly and bubbling over with unexpected humour and high spirits. He tried to persuade Cicely to stay away from the ball-room for a fourth dance. Nobody would miss them, he explained.
  • To fail to understand or have a shortcoming of perception.
  • miss the joke
  • To fail to attend.
  • Joe missed the meeting this morning.
  • To be late for something (a means of transportation, a deadline, etc.).
  • I missed the plane!
  • (sports) To fail to score (a goal).
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=September 18, author=Ben Dirs, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia , passage=Georgia, ranked 16th in the world, dominated the breakdown before half-time and forced England into a host of infringements, but fly-half Merab Kvirikashvili missed three penalties.}}
  • (obsolete) To go wrong; to err.
  • * (Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
  • Amongst the angels, a whole legion / Of wicked sprites did fall from happy bliss; / What wonder then if one, of women all, did miss ?
  • (obsolete) To be absent, deficient, or wanting.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • What here shall miss , our toil shall strive to mend.
    Usage notes
    * This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing) . See
    Antonyms
    * (to fail to hit) hit, strike, impinge on, run into, collide with * (to feel the absence of) have, feature
    Derived terms
    * hit-and-miss * miss a trick * miss the mark * miss the point * miss the boat * miss fire, misfire * miss out * near miss

    Noun

    (es)
  • A failure to hit.
  • A failure to obtain or accomplish.
  • An act of avoidance.
  • I think I’ll give the meeting a miss .

    Etymology 2

    From (mistress).

    Noun

    (wikipedia miss)
  • A title of respect for a young woman (usually unmarried) with or without a name used.
  • You may sit here, miss .
    You may sit here, Miss Jones.
  • An unmarried woman; a girl.
  • * Cawthorn
  • Gay vanity, with smiles and kisses, / Was busy 'mongst the maids and misses .
  • A kept woman; a mistress.
  • (Evelyn)
  • (card games) In the game of three-card loo, an extra hand, dealt on the table, which may be substituted for the hand dealt to a player.