pretend: [14] To pretend something is etymologically to ‘hold it out’ – as an excuse, or as something it is not. The word comes from Latin praetendere, a compound verb formed from the prefix prae- ‘before’ and tendere ‘stretch’ (source of English tend, tense, etc). => extend, tend, tense
pretend (v.)
late 14c., "to profess, assert, maintain" (a claim, etc.), "to direct (one's) efforts," from Old French pretendre "to lay claim," from Latin praetendere "stretch in front, put forward, allege," from prae "before" (see pre-) + tendere "to stretch," from PIE root *ten- "to stretch" (see tend).
Main modern sense of "feign, put forward a false claim" is recorded from c. 1400; the older sense of simply "to claim" is behind the string of royal pretenders (1690s) in English history. Meaning "to play, make believe" is recorded from 1865. In 17c. pretend also could mean "make a suit of marriage for," from a sense in French. Related: Pretended; pretending.
pretend (n.)
"fact of pretending," 1888, from children's talk, from pretend (v.). Earlier in same sense was verbal noun pretending (1640s).
例文
1. The children pretend to be different animals dancing to the music.
子供たちは異なる動物に扮し、音楽に合わせて踊っている。
2.We won 't pretend we savour the prospect of a month in prison.
刑務所での1ヶ月の過ごし方を心待ちにしているふりはしません。
3.It would be idle to pretend the system is perfect.
システムが完璧であるかのように見せかけるのは無駄だ。
4.Within this lecture I cannot pretend to deal adequately with dreams.
今回の講座では、夢の世界を徹底的に分析できるとは自慢できない。
5.I pretend that things are really okay when they 're not.