Wiktionary

pretender

English

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Etymology 1

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From pretend +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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pretender (plural pretenders)

  1. (obsolete, rare) One who intends or purposes.
    • 1591, Percivall, Sp. Dict. :
      Pretensor, a pretender, he that purposeth.
    • 1598, Florio :
      Pretendente, a pretendent, a pretender, an intender, a meaner.
  2. One who puts forth a claim, or who aspires to or aims at something; a claimant, candidate, or aspirant; now, one who makes baseless pretensions.
    • 1622, Mabbe, Aleman’s Guzman d’Alf 1.214:
      By how straight a Rule […] must that Pretender carry himselfe, who is to saile thorow the sea of this world, hoping for a fortune from another mans hand?
    • a. 1632 (date written), John Donne, “Sermon XXX”, in Henry Alford, editor, The Works of John Donne, D.D., […], volume II, London: John W[illiam] Parker, […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 8:
      […] ; to consider the direct purposes of God against his enemies, rather than the sinister supplantations of pretenders to places in court; […]
    • 1646, H. Lawrence, Comm. Angells 116:
      Every one is a pretender and a runner; but few carry the prize.
    • 1766, William Blackstone, chapter 14, in Commentaries on the Laws of England, book II (Of the Rights of Things), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 218:
      The issue of the eldest son excludes all other pretenders, as the son himself (if living) would have done.
    • 1780 May 25th, Johnson, Let. to Mrs. Thrale :
      A candidate for a school at Brewood in Staffordshire; to which, I think, there are seventeen pretenders.
    • 1845, B[enjamin] Disraeli, chapter VII, in Sybil; or The Two Nations. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book IV, page 238:
      I would sooner gain five thousand pounds by restoring you to your rights, than fifty thousand in establishing any of these pretenders in their base assumptions.
    1. (obsolete) One who aspires to the hand of a woman in marriage; a suitor, a wooer.
      • 1613–1614 (date written), John Fletcher, William Shak[e]speare, The Two Noble Kinsmen: […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, for Iohn Waterson;  […], published 1634, →OCLC, Act I, scene v, page 1:
        He, of the two pretenders, that best loves me.
      • ante 1699, Lady Halkett, Autobiog. 17, (Camden):
        An Earles daughter, […] whose mother not allowing him to come as a pretender shee made apointmentt with him and mett him att her cousin’s howse.
      • 1728 (1732), Eliza Heywood, Mme. de Gomez’s Belle A. 2.235:
        It is not my design to dispose of Irene to the most noble, but most wealthy of the Pretenders to her Love.
    2. A claimant to a throne or the office of a ruler; originally in a neutral sense, but now always applied to a claimant who is held to have no just title.
      • 1697, Virgil, translated by John Dryden, The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 125:
        If inteſtine Broils allarm the Hive, / (For two Pretenders oft for Empire ſtrive)
      • 1708 March 11th, Anne Regina, The Queen’s Speech to both Houses, in The History and Proceedings of the House of Commons, volume IV: 1706–1713, London: Chandler (1742), § iv: “First Parliament of Great Britain”, page 92:
        I Think it necessary to acquaint you, that I have received Advices this Morning from Ostend, that the French Fleet sailed from Dunkirk, Tuesday at three in the Morning, Northward, with the Pretender on board; as also, that Sir George Byng had notice of it the same Day at ten: And he being very much superior to the Enemy both in Number and Strength, I make no question, but, by God’s Blessing, he will soon be able to give a good Account of them.
      • c. 1715, Burnet, Own Time 2.503:
        She [Q. Anne] also fixed a new Designation on the Pretended Prince of Wales, and called him the Pretender; he was so called in a new Set of Addresses […] upon this occasion […] made to the Queen.
      • 1824 June, [Walter Scott], chapter XI, in Redgauntlet, […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 238:
        the provost’s enemies at the council-table of the burgh used to observe that he uttered there many a bold harangue against the Pretender, and in favour of King George and government, of which he dared not have pronounced a syllable in his own bedchamber
      • 1827 (1876), Hallam, Const. Hist. 3.16.223:
        The pretender […] had friends in the tory government more sincere probably and zealous than [the earl of] Oxford.
      • 1845, S. Austin, Ranke’s Hist. Ref. 3.633:
        Wullenweber […] turned to the nearest protestant pretender, Duke Christian, and offered him his assistance to obtain the crown.
      • 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter III, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 442:
        Every province […] had its own Augustus. All these pretenders could not be rightful Emperors.
  3. One who pretends or lays claim to something; one who makes a profession, show, or assertion, especially without adequate grounds, falsely, or with intent to deceive; a dissembler, deceiver, charlatan, hypocrite.
  4. A person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold.
    Synonyms: dissembler, flip-flopper, hypocrite, phony; see also Thesaurus:deceiver
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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From pre- +‎ tender.

Verb

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pretender (third-person singular simple present pretenders, present participle pretendering, simple past and past participle pretendered)

  2. (uncommon) To tender (a bid, etc.) in advance.
    • 1979, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, Energy and Water Development Appropriations for 1980: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, Ninety-sixth Congress, First Session, page 1016:
      The LPM coordinates closely with the EPM and the case attorney throughout the pretendering period. The Licensing Assistant (LA) in the assigned project branch requests that a project number be assigned by the Records Facilities […]
    • 1979, Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, volume 6:
      Long-term delivery items were pretendered and purchased by the Government of the Northwest Territories in early 1975. Pretendered items included the polyethylene pipe and Victaulic couplings, a portable gasoline engine driven pump […]
    • 1980 September 8, H. N. Ahuja, Successful Construction Cost Control, John Wiley & Sons, page 177:
      The prime contractor is then required to incorporate this pretendered work into his project schedule. In a similar fashion, the owner may want direct control over special materials needed on his project.
    • 1999 11, Bernard L. Ungar, Procurement Reform: How Selected Countries Perform Certain Gsa Activities, DIANE Publishing, →ISBN, page 17:
      These included pretendered "direct call-off" contracts covering over 50,000 products and services; the "Pathfinder" service for larger or more complex procurements; and direct sales and spot buying, where TBA coordinates volume […]
    • (Can we date this quote?), U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Office of Standards Development, Regulatory Guide, page 12:
      The expanded pretendering activities will be initiated about 9 months prior to the proposed tendering of an application and will be designed to provide additional guidance and direction to the applicant during the preparation of its […]

Galician

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Etymology

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Learned borrowing from Latin praetendere.

Verb

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pretender (first-person singular present pretendo, first-person singular preterite pretendín, past participle pretendido)

  1. to want to; have the intention of
  2. to claim (something that is very difficult to believe)
  3. to try to marry or maintain a fiancé relationship with another person

Conjugation

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    Conjugation of pretender
Singular Plural
First-person
(eu) 		Second-person
(ti) 		Third-person
(el / ela / Vde.) 		First-person
(nós) 		Second-person
(vós) 		Third-person
(eles / elas / Vdes.)
Infinitive
Impersonal pretender
Personal pretender pretenderes pretender pretendermos pretenderdes pretenderen
Gerund
pretendendo
Past participle
Masculine pretendido pretendidos
Feminine pretendida pretendidas
Indicative
Present pretendo pretendes pretende pretendemos pretendedes pretenden
Imperfect pretendía pretendías pretendía pretendiamos pretendiades pretendían
Preterite pretendín pretendiches pretendeu pretendemos pretendestes pretenderon
Pluperfect pretendera pretenderas pretendera pretenderamos pretenderades pretenderan
Future pretenderei pretenderás pretenderá pretenderemos pretenderedes pretenderán
Conditional pretendería pretenderías pretendería pretenderiamos pretenderiades pretenderían
Subjunctive
Present pretenda pretendas pretenda pretendamos pretendades pretendan
Imperfect pretendese pretendeses pretendese pretendésemos pretendésedes pretendesen
Future pretender pretenderes pretender pretendermos pretenderdes pretenderen
Imperative
Affirmative pretende pretenda pretendamos pretendede pretendan
Negative (non) non pretendas non pretenda non pretendamos non pretendades non pretendan
    Reintegrated conjugation of pretender (See Appendix:Reintegrationism)
Singular Plural
First-person
(eu) 		Second-person
(ti / tu) 		Third-person
(ele / ela / você) 		First-person
(nós) 		Second-person
(vós) 		Third-person
(eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal pretender
Personal pretender pretenderes pretender pretendermos pretenderdes pretenderem
Gerund
pretendendo
Past participle
Masculine pretendido pretendidos
Feminine pretendida pretendidas
Indicative
Present pretendo pretendes pretende pretendemos pretendedes, pretendeis pretendem
Imperfect pretendia pretendias pretendia pretendíamos pretendíades, pretendíeis, pretendíais1 pretendiam
Preterite pretendim, pretendi pretendeste, pretendeche1 pretendeu pretendemos pretendestes pretendêrom, pretenderam
Pluperfect pretendera pretenderas pretendera pretendêramos pretendêrades, pretendêreis, pretendêrais1 pretenderam
Future pretenderei pretenderás pretenderá pretenderemos pretenderedes, pretendereis pretenderám, pretenderão
Conditional pretenderia pretenderias pretenderia pretenderíamos pretenderíades, pretenderíeis, pretenderíais1 pretenderiam
Subjunctive
Present pretenda pretendas pretenda pretendamos pretendades, pretendais pretendam
Imperfect pretendesse pretendesses pretendesse pretendêssemos pretendêssedes, pretendêsseis pretendessem
Future pretender pretenderes pretender pretendermos pretenderdes pretenderem
Imperative
Affirmative pretende pretenda pretendamos pretendede, pretendei pretendam
Negative (nom) nom pretendas nom pretenda nom pretendamos nom pretendades, nom pretendais nom pretendam

1Less recommended.

Portuguese

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin praetendere.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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pretender (first-person singular present pretendo, first-person singular preterite pretendi, past participle pretendido)

  1. to want
  2. to pretend
  3. to intend
  4. to request
  5. to aspire

Usage notes

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  • Pretender is a false friend, and does not mean pretend in the sense of to claim that or act as if something is different from what it actually is.

Conjugation

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    Conjugation of pretender (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)
Singular Plural
First-person
(eu) 		Second-person
(tu) 		Third-person
(ele / ela / você) 		First-person
(nós) 		Second-person
(vós) 		Third-person
(eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal pretender
Personal pretender pretenderes pretender pretendermos pretenderdes pretenderem
Gerund
pretendendo
Past participle
Masculine pretendido pretendidos
Feminine pretendida pretendidas
Indicative
Present pretendo pretendes pretende pretendemos pretendeis pretendem
Imperfect pretendia pretendias pretendia pretendíamos pretendíeis pretendiam
Preterite pretendi pretendeste pretendeu pretendemos pretendestes pretenderam
Pluperfect pretendera pretenderas pretendera pretendêramos pretendêreis pretenderam
Future pretenderei pretenderás pretenderá pretenderemos pretendereis pretenderão
Conditional pretenderia pretenderias pretenderia pretenderíamos pretenderíeis pretenderiam
Subjunctive
Present pretenda pretendas pretenda pretendamos pretendais pretendam
Imperfect pretendesse pretendesses pretendesse pretendêssemos pretendêsseis pretendessem
Future pretender pretenderes pretender pretendermos pretenderdes pretenderem
Imperative
Affirmative pretende pretenda pretendamos pretendei pretendam
Negative (não) não pretendas não pretenda não pretendamos não pretendais não pretendam
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Spanish

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin praetendere.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /pɾetenˈdeɾ/ [pɾe.t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ]
  • Rhymes: -eɾ
  • Syllabification: pre‧ten‧der

Verb

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pretender (first-person singular present pretendo, first-person singular preterite pretendí, past participle pretendido)

  1. to intend, to aim (for/to)
    Juan pretende tener su casa propia en tres años.
    Juan intends to have his own house in three years.
  2. to woo, to court
    Synonym: cortejar
    Juan pretende a Fernanda porque él siempre le lleva rosas y chocolates
    Juan is courting Fernanda, so he always gives her roses and chocolates.
  4. (Latin America, possibly nonstandard) to pretend, purport (claim, allege)

Usage notes

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  • With the exception of non-standard or dialectal use (see sense 3), pretender is a false friend, and does not mean pretend in the sense of to claim that or act as if something is different from what it actually is. The Spanish word for pretend in that sense is fingir.

Conjugation

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    Conjugation of pretender (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)
infinitive pretender
gerund pretendiendo
past participle masculine feminine
singular pretendido pretendida
plural pretendidos pretendidas
singular plural
1st person 2nd person 3rd person 1st person 2nd person 3rd person
indicative yo tú
vos 		él/ella/ello
usted 		nosotros
nosotras 		vosotros
vosotras 		ellos/ellas
ustedes
present pretendo pretendestú
pretendésvos 		pretende pretendemos pretendéis pretenden
imperfect pretendía pretendías pretendía pretendíamos pretendíais pretendían
preterite pretendí pretendiste pretendió pretendimos pretendisteis pretendieron
future pretenderé pretenderás pretenderá pretenderemos pretenderéis pretenderán
conditional pretendería pretenderías pretendería pretenderíamos pretenderíais pretenderían
subjunctive yo tú
vos 		él/ella/ello
usted 		nosotros
nosotras 		vosotros
vosotras 		ellos/ellas
ustedes
present pretenda pretendastú
pretendásvos2 		pretenda pretendamos pretendáis pretendan
imperfect
(ra) 		pretendiera pretendieras pretendiera pretendiéramos pretendierais pretendieran
imperfect
(se) 		pretendiese pretendieses pretendiese pretendiésemos pretendieseis pretendiesen
future1 pretendiere pretendieres pretendiere pretendiéremos pretendiereis pretendieren
imperative — tú
vos 		usted nosotros
nosotras 		vosotros
vosotras 		ustedes
affirmative pretendetú
pretendévos 		pretenda pretendamos pretended pretendan
negative no pretendas no pretenda no pretendamos no pretendáis no pretendan

1Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language.
2Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of pretender

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

singular plural
1st person 2nd person 3rd person 1st person 2nd person 3rd person
with infinitive pretender dative pretenderme pretenderte pretenderle, pretenderse pretendernos pretenderos pretenderles, pretenderse
accusative pretenderme pretenderte pretenderlo, pretenderla, pretenderse pretendernos pretenderos pretenderlos, pretenderlas, pretenderse
with gerund pretendiendo dative pretendiéndome pretendiéndote pretendiéndole, pretendiéndose pretendiéndonos pretendiéndoos pretendiéndoles, pretendiéndose
accusative pretendiéndome pretendiéndote pretendiéndolo, pretendiéndola, pretendiéndose pretendiéndonos pretendiéndoos pretendiéndolos, pretendiéndolas, pretendiéndose
with informal second-person singular tú imperative pretende dative preténdeme preténdete preténdele preténdenos not used preténdeles
accusative preténdeme preténdete preténdelo, preténdela preténdenos not used preténdelos, preténdelas
with informal second-person singular vos imperative pretendé dative pretendeme pretendete pretendele pretendenos not used pretendeles
accusative pretendeme pretendete pretendelo, pretendela pretendenos not used pretendelos, pretendelas
with formal second-person singular imperative pretenda dative preténdame not used preténdale, preténdase preténdanos not used preténdales
accusative preténdame not used preténdalo, preténdala, preténdase preténdanos not used preténdalos, preténdalas
with first-person plural imperative pretendamos dative not used pretendámoste pretendámosle pretendámonos pretendámoos pretendámosles
accusative not used pretendámoste pretendámoslo, pretendámosla pretendámonos pretendámoos pretendámoslos, pretendámoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative pretended dative pretendedme not used pretendedle pretendednos pretendeos pretendedles
accusative pretendedme not used pretendedlo, pretendedla pretendednos pretendeos pretendedlos, pretendedlas
with formal second-person plural imperative pretendan dative preténdanme not used preténdanle preténdannos not used preténdanles, preténdanse
accusative preténdanme not used preténdanlo, preténdanla preténdannos not used preténdanlos, preténdanlas, preténdanse
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Further reading

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