English
pretension
Pretension comes from Medieval Latin prētēnsiō.
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500prētēnsiō
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pretencioun
- Englishearliest quotation 1872pretension
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500prētēnsiō
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pretencioun
- Englishearliest quotation 1872pretension
Earliest quotation: 1872, Reviews of Postal Publications: “As a foreign stamp gazette it is nowhere. An…”
Every English word from Medieval Latin prētēnsiō
Another origin of pretension
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*téndetireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tendō‘to stretch’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtendō
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtēnsiō‘stretching, stretching out, extension’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600tension
- English1500–presentsame form
- Englishtodaypretension
Today it means
noun A claim or aspiration to a particular status or quality.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Medieval Latin prētēnsiō / pretension