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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Feign \Feign\, verb (used with an object) [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.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
feign
verb
1: make believe with the intent to deceive; "He feigned that he was ill"; "He shammed a headache" [syn: {sham}, {pretend}, {affect}, {dissemble}]
2: make a pretence of; "She assumed indifference, even though she was seething with anger"; "he feigned sleep" [syn: {simulate}, {assume}, {sham}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
36 Moby Thesaurus words for "feign": act, act a part, affect, assume, bluff, counterfeit, cover up, dissemble, dissimulate, do a bit, dramatize, fake, four-flush, gammon, histrionize, let on, let on like, make a pretense, make as if, make believe, make like, make out like, overact, play, play a part, play a scene, play possum, playact, pretend, profess, put on, put on airs, sham, simulate, tug the heartstrings, wear
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