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START / NODE 981Present-Day English13th century–today
feign
To invent, fabricate, make a likeness, or pretend; borrowed through Anglo-French from Latin fingere, to shape or fashion.
“Feign did not begin as a synonym for lie. Its recorded Middle English field includes make, fabricate, and make a likeness, preserving the shaping history behind pretense.”OPEN COMPLETE WORD DOSSIER ↗
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01
PARENT ROUTES1 REVIEWED RELATIONSHIP
Present-Day Englishfeign
invent; fabricate; pretend; give a false appearance
↑GO DEEPER
Middle English · Middle Englishfeynenmake; fabricate; make a likeness; dissemble; pretend
- SOUND CHANGE
- Middle English feynen and feignen develop into modern feign with spelling and pronunciation standardization.
- SEMANTIC CHANGE
- Making, fabricating, likeness, and pretense narrow toward deliberate false appearance.
- SCHOLAR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
- CONFIDENCE
- established
- CHRONOLOGY
- First known English use is reported in the thirteenth century.
THE ASTERISK IS A PROMISE
RECONSTRUCTION IS
NOT INSCRIPTION.
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