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v. feigned, feign·ing, feigns v.tr. 1. a. To give a false appearance of: feign sleep. b. To represent falsely; pretend to: feign authorship of a novel. 2. To imitate so as to deceive: feign another's voice. 3. To fabricate: feigned an excuse. 4. Archaic To invent or imagine. v.intr. To pretend; dissemble. [Middle English feinen, from Old French feindre, from Latin fingere, to shape, form; see dheigh- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] |
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