feign

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To pretend to have a feeling or condition in order to deceive someone.

   The pupil feigned sickness on the day of his exam.

2. 2
   verb

   To pretend to move one way in order to trick an opponent, as in sport.

   The striker feigned to his left, then shot the ball to the right.

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 and fiction.

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