Acting as if something is true when you know it is not; making believe or faking.
From Latin 'praetendere' meaning 'to put forward, allege' (from 'prae-' before and 'tendere' to stretch). The word originally meant 'to claim or allege' and evolved to mean 'to falsely claim.'
The word 'pretend' comes from Latin for 'to stretch before'—it's as if you're stretching out a false version of the truth in front of someone, which is such a vivid way to describe lying.
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