"cowardly, timorous," c. 1400, from faint (adj.) + -hearted. Related: Faint-heartedly; faint-heartedness; faint-heart.
Entries linking to faint-hearted
faint adj.
c. 1300, "enfeebled; wearied, exhausted," from Old French faint, feint "false, deceitful; sham, artificial; weak, faint, lazy, indolent, cowardly," past participle of feindre "hesitate, falter, be indolent, show weakness, avoid one's duty by pretending," from Latin fingere "to touch, handle; devise; fabricate, alter, change" (from PIE root *dheigh- "to form, build"). Also from c. 1300 as "deceitful; unreliable; false." Meaning "wanting in spirit or courage, cowardly" (a sense now mostly encountered in faint-hearted) is from early 14c. From early 15c. of actions, functions, colors, etc., "weak, feeble, poor." Meaning "producing a feeble impression upon the senses" is from 1650s.
-hearted
figurative element in combinations, "at heart," also "having a heart" (of a specified kind), c. 1200, first attested in hard-hearted; see heart (n.). Related: -heartedly.