different between concern vs pretend

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French concerner, from Medieval Latin concern?, concernere (“I distinguish, have respect to”), from Latin concern? (“I mix, sift, or mingle together, as in a sieve”), combined form of con- + cern? (“distinguish”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /k?n?s?n/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /k?n?s??n/
• Rhymes: -??(?)n
• Hyphenation: con?cern

Noun

concern (countable and uncountable, plural concerns)

1. That which affects one’s welfare or happiness. A matter of interest to someone.

   Synonym: interest

2. The expression of solicitude, anxiety, or compassion toward a thing or person.
3. A business, firm or enterprise; a company.

4. (programming) Any set of information that affects the code of a computer program.
   • 2006, Awais Rashid, Mehmet Aksit, Transactions on Aspect-Oriented Software Development II, page 148:

     At the programming level, an aspect is a modular unit that implements a concern.

Translations

Further reading

• concern in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• concern in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Verb

concern (third-person singular simple present concerns, present participle concerning, simple past and past participle concerned)

1. (transitive) To relate or belong to; to have reference to or connection with; to affect the interest of; to be of importance to.
   • 1611, Bible (KJV), Acts xxviii. 31

     Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ.

   • 1708, Joseph Addison, The Present State of the War, and the Necessity of an Augmentation

     our wars with France have always affected us in our most tender interests, and concerned us more than those we have had with any other nation

   • 1821, James Fenimore Cooper, The Spy

     ignorant, so far as the usual instruction was concerned
2. (transitive) To engage by feeling or sentiment; to interest.
   • a. 1729, John Rogers, A Sufficiency adjusted and recommended

     They think themselves out the reach of Providence, and no longer concerned to solicit his favour.
3. (transitive) To make somebody worried.

Synonyms

• (to be of importance to): See also Thesaurus:pertain

Derived terms

• concernable

Translations

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English concern.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?n?s?rn/
• Hyphenation: con?cern
• Rhymes: -?rn

Noun

concern n (plural concerns, diminutive concerntje n)

1. company, business, concern

Derived terms

• chemieconcern

English

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman pretendre, Middle French pretendre (French prétendre (“to claim, demand”)), from Latin praetendere, present active infinitive of praetend? (“put forward, hold out, pretend”), from prae- (“pre-”) + tend? (“stretch”); see tend.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p???t?nd/
• Rhymes: -?nd
• Hyphenation: pre?tend

Verb

pretend (third-person singular simple present pretends, present participle pretending, simple past and past participle pretended)

1. To claim, to allege, especially when falsely or as a form of deliberate deception. [from 14th c.]
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, XVIII.23:

     "After what past at Upton, so soon to engage in a new amour with another woman, while I fancied, and you pretended, your heart was bleeding for me!"

   • 2009 April 13, “Vanity publishing”, in The Economist:

     I have nothing but contempt for people who hire ghost-writers. But at least most faux authors have the decency to pretend that they are sweating blood over "their" book.

2. To feign, affect (a state, quality, etc.). [from 15th c.]
   • 2007 October 29, The Guardian, London:

     Gap and other clothes manufacturers should stop using small subcontractors because they are difficult to control. Instead, they should open up their own fully-owned production facilities so that they cannot pretend ignorance when abuses are committed.

3. To lay claim to (an ability, status, advantage, etc.). [from 15th c.] (originally used without to)
   • 1682, John Dryden, The Medal

     Chiefs shall be grudged the part which they pretend.

   • 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.25:

     People observed the diversity of schools and the acerbity of their disputes, and decided that all alike were pretending to knowledge which was in fact unattainable.

4. To make oneself appear to do or be doing something; to engage in make-believe.
   • 2003 January 23, Duncan Campbell, The Guardian, London:

     Luster claimed that the women had consented to sex and were only pretending to be asleep.

5. (transitive, obsolete) To hold before, or put forward, as a cloak or disguise for something else; to exhibit as a veil for something hidden.
6. (transitive, obsolete) To intend; to design, to plot; to attempt.
7. (transitive, obsolete) To hold before one; to extend.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, VI.11:

     Pastorella […] Was by the Captaine all this while defended, / Who, minding more her safety then himselfe, / His target alwayes over her pretended […].

Usage notes

This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Related terms

• pretender
• pretense
• pretension
• pretentious
• pretentiousness

Translations

Further reading

• pretend in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• pretend in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Adjective

pretend (not comparable)

1. Not really what it is represented as being; imaginary, feigned.

   As children we used to go on "spying" missions around the neighbour's house, but it was all pretend.

Translations