Pretend

How to spell pretend

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce pretend

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does pretend mean?

1. verbTo behave as though something is true when it is not, or to feign a feeling or state.
2. adjectiveImaginary or not real, used especially of toys or games of make-believe.

Pretend in a sentence

• verb

  He would often pretend to be asleep when his manager walked past.

• adjective

  The toddler served everyone a cup of pretend tea from her plastic set.

• verb

  Children love to pretend that an empty box is a spaceship.

• adjective

  They built a pretend shop in the corner of the nursery.

Where does pretend come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb praetendere, formed from prae meaning 'before' or 'forth' and tendere meaning 'to stretch'. Literally it meant 'to stretch forth' or 'to hold something out in front', and from there it came to mean 'to put forward as a reason' or 'to allege', often something not strictly true. English adopted it in the fifteenth century, partly through Old French pretendre, at first carrying the legal sense of laying claim to something, as in 'a pretender to the throne'. Over time the everyday sense narrowed to the idea of feigning or making believe, putting on an appearance rather than the reality. The same tendere root that means 'to stretch' also sits inside words such as 'extend', 'tension', and 'tendon', which is a useful reminder that the middle of the word is spelled 'tend', not 'tent'.

How the word is built

• pre- (before, forth)
• tend (from Latin tendere: to stretch)