feign

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English feynen, feinen, borrowed from Old French feindre (“to pretend”), from Latin fingere (“to form, shape, invent”). Compare French feignant (present participle of feindre, literally “feigning”). Also compare feint, figment and fiction. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /feɪn/ Rhymes: -eɪn Homophones: fane, foehn, fain === Verb === feign (third-person singular simple present feigns, present participle feigning, simple past and past participle feigned) To make a false show or pretence of; to counterfeit or simulate. To imagine; to invent; to pretend to do something. 1611, King James Translators, Nehemiah 6:8: Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart. To make an action as if doing one thing, but actually doing another, for example to trick an opponent; to feint. ==== Synonyms ==== (represent by a false appearance): front, put on airs See Thesaurus:deceive ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === References === == Middle English == === Verb === feign (Northern) alternative form of feynen