Pretending to have a feeling, quality, or illness that you don't actually have; faking something.
From Old French 'feindre' meaning 'to make, shape, or contrive,' derived from Latin 'fingere' (to form or fashion). The meaning shifted to 'to make a false show' over time.
The root 'fingere' also gives us 'fiction' and 'figure'—all about making or shaping something, whether real or imaginary!
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