feint

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English[edit]

WOTD – 19 March 2023
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Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

The noun is borrowed from French feinte (“dummy, feint”), from feindre (“to fake, feign”), from Old French feindre, faindre,[1] from Latin fingere, the present active infinitive of fingō (“to alter the truth to deceive, dissemble, feign, pretend; to fashion, form, shape”).

The verb is derived from the noun.[2]

cognates

Noun[edit]

feint (plural feints)

  1. (often military) A movement made to confuse an opponent; a dummy.
    • 1683, William Temple, “Memoirs of what Pass’d in Christendom, from the War Begun 1672, to the Peace Concluded 1679. Chapter III.”, in The Works of Sir William Temple, […], volume I, London: […] J. Round, J[acob] Tonson, J. Clarke, B[enjamin] Motte, T. Wotton, S[amuel] Birt, and T[homas] Osborne, published 1731, →OCLC, page 459:
      In October, Friburg had been taken by a Feint of the Duke of Crequi, before the Duke of Lorrain cou'd come to relieve it; […]
    • 1840, W[illiam] H[amilton] Maxwell, chapter XIV, in Life of Field-Marshal His Grace the Duke of Wellington, […], volume II, London: A[lfred] H. Baily & Co. […], →OCLC, page 222:
      Nothing could be more uncertain than the intentions of the French marshal [André Masséna], and Lord Wellington [Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington] felt, that by an incautious movement, his army must be seriously committed—Massena's retreat might only be a feint to draw the allies from their position—while by turning Monte Junta, he might make a sudden rush on Torres Vedras.
  3. (boxing, fencing) A blow, thrust, or other offensive movement resembling an attack on some part of the body, intended to distract from a real attack on another part.
    • 1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter XII, in Rob Roy. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, pages 251–252:
      He had some advantage in the difference of our weapons; for his sword, as I recollect, was longer than mine, […] His obvious malignity of purpose never for a moment threw him off his guard, and he exhausted every feint and strategem proper to the science of defence; while, at the same time, he mediated the most desperate catastrophe to our rencounter.
    • 1999, Allan Skipp, “Key Techniques”, in Handbook of Foil Fencing, Armley, Leeds: Coachwise Business Solutions for British Fencing, published 2006, →ISBN, page 36:
      It is also possible to deliver a compound riposte by using an indirect feint. The attacking fencer would be open to a compound riposte following a successful parry by their opponent.
  4. (figuratively) Something feigned; a false or pretend appearance; a pretence or stratagem.
Translations[edit]
something feigned; a false or pretend appearance — see pretence,‎ stratagem

Verb[edit]

feint (third-person singular simple present feints, present participle feinting, simple past and past participle feinted)

  1. (transitive, boxing, fencing)
    1. To direct (a blow, thrust, or other offensive movement resembling an attack) on some part of the body, intended to distract from a real attack on another part.
      • 1882, T. Alderson Wilson, “Lanval”, in Perseus and Other Essays in Verse, London: Ranken and Co., […], →OCLC, page 74:
        Genevra scowled and said, "His word is wild, / But dastard treason feinteth such disorders: / Treason or witchcraft neither, undefiled, / A Christian court may cherish in its borders."
        A figurative use.
      • 1914, Booth Tarkington, “The Imitator”, in Penrod, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLC, page 231:
        Even Penrod's walk was affected; he adopted a gait which was a kind of taunting swagger; and, when he passed other children on the street, he practised the habit of feinting a blow; then, as the victim dodged, he rasped out the triumphant horse laugh which he gradually mastered to horrible perfection.
      • 1924 October 10, Harold Lamb, “Forward”, in Arthur Sullivant Hoffman, editor, Adventure, volume XLIX, number I, New York, N.Y., London: The Ridgway Company, →OCLC, page 25, column 1:
        I spurred on the Turani instead of pulling him in, and stood up in the saddle just as we came upon the two. By feinting a slash at one I made him throw up his saber to guard his head. Then, leaning down as the three ponies came together, I cut at the other's neck, getting home over his blade. His mount reared and shelled him out of the saddle like a pea out of a pod.
    2. (rare) To direct a feint or mock attack against (someone).
  2. (intransitive, boxing, fencing, also often military) To make a feint or mock attack.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Borrowed from French feint, the past participle of feindre (“to fake, feign”): see etymology 1.[3]

Adjective[edit]

feint (not comparable)

  1. (boxing, fencing, also often military) Of an attack or offensive movement: directed toward a different part from the intended strike.
  2. (obsolete) Feigned, counterfeit, fake.
Translations[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

A variant of faint (“barely perceptible; not bright, loud, or sharp”).[4]

Adjective[edit]

feint (not comparable)

  1. Of lines printed on paper as a handwriting guide: not bold; faint, light; also, of such paper: ruled with faint lines of this sort. [from mid 19th c.]
Translations[edit]
of lines printed on paper as a handwriting guide: not bold; of such paper: ruled with faint lines of this sort — see faint

References[edit]

  1. ^ “feint, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2022.; “feint1, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. ^ “feint, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “feint1, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. ^ “feint, adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022.
  4. ^ “feint2, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Past participle of feindre; from Old French feint, from Latin fictus, probably through the Vulgar Latin form *finctus, with a nasal infix. Compare Italian finto.

Pronunciation[edit]

Participle[edit]

feint (feminine feinte, masculine plural feints, feminine plural feintes)

  1. past participle of feindre

Verb[edit]

feint

  1. third-person singular present indicative of feindre

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

West Frisian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun[edit]

feint c (plural feinten, diminutive feintsje)

  1. young man
  2. boy
  3. boyfriend
    Coordinate term: faam

Derived terms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • “feint”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011
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