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pretension

noun

  1. claim or aspiration to a particular status or quality
L325897 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

noun

Etymology: From Middle English pretencioun, pretensioun, from Medieval Latin prētēnsiō.

  1. A claim or aspiration to a particular status or quality.

    As a foreign stamp gazette it is nowhere. An article on Stamp Collecting, by J. E. Gray, “reprinted from one of his books,” and a catalogue of stamps constitute its sole attraction. We are surprised to find such sounding pretentions so poorly supported.

  2. Pretentiousness.

verb

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per- Proto-Indo-European *preh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-i Proto-Indo-European *préh₂i? Proto-Italic *prai Proto-Italic *prai- Latin prae-lbor. Middle English pre- English pre- Proto-Indo-European *ten- Proto-Indo-European *tend-der. Proto-Italic *tendō Latin tendō Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin tēnsiōder. Middle French tensionbor. English tension English pretension From pre- + tension.

  1. To apply tension to an object before some other event or process.
  2. To apply tension to reinforcing strands before concrete is poured in.