Feign \Feign\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Feigned; p. pr. & vb. n.
Feigning.]
[OE. feinen, F. feindre (p. pr. feignant), fr.
L. fingere; akin to L. figura figure,and E. dough. See
Dough, and cf. Figure, Faint, Effigy, Fiction.]
1. To give a mental existence to, as to something not real or
actual; to imagine; to invent; hence, to pretend; to form
and relate as if true.
There are no such things done as thou sayest, but
thou feignest them out of thine own heart. --Neh.
vi. 8.
The poet Did feign that Orpheus drew trees, stones,
and floods. --Shak.
2. To represent by a false appearance of; to pretend; to
counterfeit; as, to feign a sickness. --Shak.
3. To dissemble; to conceal. [Obs.]
--Spenser.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) |