feign

The story

1. Latin · derived fromfingere“to form, shape, invent”
2. Old French · derived fromfeindre“to pretend”
3. Middle English · inherited fromfeynen
4. English todayfeign

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.

Words from the same roots