feign
11feign — [fān] vt. [ME feinen < OFr feindre (prp. feignant) < L fingere, to touch, handle, shape: see FIGURE] 1. Obs. to form; shape 2. to make up (a story, excuse, etc.); invent; fabricate 3. to make a false show of; pretend; imitate; simulate 4.… …
12feign — feigner, n. feigningly, adv. /fayn/, v.t. 1. to represent fictitiously; put on an appearance of: to feign sickness. 2. to invent fictitiously or deceptively, as a story or an excuse. 3. to imitate deceptively: to feign another s voice. v.i. 4. to …
13feign — [[t]feɪn[/t]] v. t. 1) to represent fictitiously; put on an appearance of: to feign sickness[/ex] 2) to invent fictitiously or deceptively, as a story or an excuse 3) to imitate deceptively: to feign another s voice[/ex] 4) to make believe;… …
14feign — verb Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo French feign , stem of feindre, from Latin fingere to shape, feign more at dough Date: 13th century intransitive verb pretend, dissemble transitive verb 1. a. to give a false appearance of ; induce as a… …
15feign — UK [feɪn] / US verb [transitive] Word forms feign : present tense I/you/we/they feign he/she/it feigns present participle feigning past tense feigned past participle feigned formal to pretend to have a particular feeling OK, she said, feigning… …
16feign — /feɪn / (say fayn) verb (t) 1. to invent fictitiously or deceptively, as a story or an excuse. 2. to represent fictitiously; put on an appearance of: to feign sickness. 3. to imitate deceptively; simulate: *With that, Paul leapt into bed, put his …
17feign — v. 1 tr. simulate; pretend to be affected by (feign madness). 2 tr. archaic invent (an excuse etc.). 3 intr. indulge in pretence. Etymology: ME f. feign stem of OF feindre f. L fingere mould, contrive …
18feign — verb Feign is used with these nouns as the object: ↑disappointment, ↑enthusiasm, ↑ignorance, ↑illness, ↑indifference, ↑injury, ↑innocence, ↑insanity, ↑interest, ↑look, ↑nonchalance, ↑ …
19feign — I (New American Roget s College Thesaurus) v. t. simulate, pretend, counterfeit, sham. See falsehood, affectation. II (Roget s IV) v. Syn. pretend, simulate, invent, fabricate; see invent 2 , pretend 1 . See Synonym Study at pretend . III (Roget… …
20feign — [13] Feign is first cousin to faint. It comes from the present stem of Old French faindre or feindre ‘pretend, shirk’, whose past participle gave English faint. This in turn came from Latin fingere ‘make, shape’, which also gave English effigy,… …
