Etymograph

English

feint

Feint comes from French feinte ‘dummy, feint’, from feindre ‘to fake, feign’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- ‘to mold’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeyǵʰ-‘to mold’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fingō‘to knead, form’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfingō‘to alter the truth to deceive, dissemble, feign, pretend’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfingerepresent active infinitive of fingō
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400feindre‘to feign’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form‘to fake, feign’
  7. French, derivedc. 1600–presentfeinte‘dummy, feint’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1683feint

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeyǵʰ-‘to mold’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fingō‘to knead, form’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfingō‘to alter the truth to deceive, dissemble, feign, pretend’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfingerepresent active infinitive of fingō
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400feindre‘to feign’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form‘to fake, feign’
  7. French, derivedc. 1600–presentfeinte‘dummy, feint’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1683feint

Earliest quotation: 1683, William Temple, London: […] J. Round: “In October, Friburg had been taken by a Feint…”

The story

The noun is borrowed from French feinte (‘dummy, feint’), from feindre (‘to fake, feign’), from Old French feindre, faindre, from Latin fingere, the present active infinitive of fingō (‘to alter the truth to deceive, dissemble, feign, pretend; to fashion, form, shape’).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- ‘to mold’

figure, lady, paradise, dairy, dough, dey, 25 more

through Proto-Italic *fingō ‘to knead, form’

nonfiction, 17 more

through Latin fingō ‘to alter the truth to deceive, dissemble,…’

fiction, fictitious, effigy, figment, 18 more

through Latin fingere

faint

through Old French feindre ‘to feign’

feign

Another origin of feint

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeyǵʰ-‘to mold’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fingō‘to knead, form’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfingōas fingere‘to shape, fashion, form, knead (dough)’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400feindre‘to feign’
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form‘to fake, feign’
  6. French, derivedc. 1600–presentfeintpast participle of feindre
  7. Englishtodaysame form

Today it means

noun A movement made to confuse an opponent; a dummy.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- / feint

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