This week’s theme
Sword Words

This week’s words
contretemps
hilt
feint
ensiform
swashbuckler

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(faynt)

MEANING:

noun: A deceptive move, especially in fencing or boxing.
verb tr., intr.: To make a deceptive movement.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Old French feinte, past participle of feindre (to feign), from Latin fingere (to shape). Ultimately from the Indo-European root dheigh- (to build or form), which also gave us fiction, effigy, paradise, dough, dairy, and lady (literally, a loaf kneader). Earliest documented use: around 1330.

USAGE:

“Journalists could argue they use appellations as a sign of respect, but I think it’s a feint -- a touch of obsequiousness before sticking in the shiv.”
Emily Yoffe; You Are Not the Speaker; Slate (New York); Mar 20, 2012.

See more usage examples of feint in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: