Words: fain [MW]

Main Entry:    fain
Pronunciation:    fAn
Function:    adjective
Etymology:    Middle English fagen, fayn, from Old English fægen; akin to Old Norse fegiun happy, Old English fæger fair
1 archaic : HAPPY, PLEASED
2 archaic : INCLINED, DESIROUS
3 a : WILLING | he was very fain, for the young widow was "altogether fair and lovely ..." -- Amy Kelly | b : being obliged or constrained : COMPELLED | Great Britain was fain to devote its whole energy ... to the business of slaying and being slain -- G. M. Trevelyan |