feign

English

Etymology

Old French feindre (“to pretend”), from Latin fingere (“to form, shape, invent”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /feɪn/, SAMPA: /feIn/
• Rhymes: -eɪn
• Homophones: fane, fain (archaic)

Verb

feign (third-person singular simple present feigns, present participle feigning, simple past and past participle feigned)

1. To represent by a false appearance of; to pretend; to counterfeit.

   The pupil feigned sickness on the day of his exam.

2. To give a mental existence to something that is not real or actual; to imagine; to invent; to pretend; to form and relate as if true.

   He feigned that he had gone home at the appointed time.

3. To dissemble; to conceal.

   Jessica feigned the fact that she had not done her homework.

Translations

to represent by a false appearance of

Chinese: Mandarin: 假裝 (cmn), 假装 (cmn) (jiǎzhuāng) Danish: simulere (da) Dutch: fingeren (nl), voorwenden (nl), veinzen (nl) French: feindre (fr) German: vorgeben (de), vortäuschen (de), vormachen (de), fingieren (de) Italian: fingere (it)

Japanese: 見せ掛ける (ja) (みせかける, misekakeru), 装う (ja) (よそおう, yosoou) Norwegian: simulere (no), spille (no) Portuguese: fingir (pt) Russian: притворяться (ru) (pritvorját'sja) impf., прикидываться (ru) (prikídyvat'sja) impf., симулировать (ru) (simulírovat') impf. Scottish Gaelic: leig air (gd) Spanish: fingir (es)

to give a mental existence to something

Dutch: veinzen (nl), inbeelden (nl) Portuguese: inventar (pt)

Russian: выдумывать (ru) (vydúmyvat') impf. Scottish Gaelic: leig air (gd)

to dissemble

Dutch: verbergen (nl), verzwijgen (nl) Portuguese: omitir (pt)

Russian: скрывать (ru) (skryvát') impf., прятать (ru) (prjátat') impf.

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• Danish: foregive