prétendant, n.m., -e, n.f., claimant, candidate; suitor, wooer; pretender (to the throne).
prétendre, v.a., to claim, to lay claim to, to pretend to. Que prétendent ces misérables? what do these wretches lay claim to, or mean?
prétendre, v.n., to lay claim to; to pretend, to mean; to maintain. Je prétends que mon droit est incontestable; I maintain that my claim is incontestable. Je prétends vous traiter comme mon propre fils (Racine); I mean (intend) to treat you as my own son.
prétendu, -e, adj., pretended, feigned, sham, so-called; said to be, would be. C’est un — bel esprit; he is a would-be wit.
prétendu, n.m., -e, n.f., intended, future husband, future wife. Voilà mon —; that is my intended.
prête-nom, n.m., (—-—s) one that lends his name to another; dummy.
pretentaine, n.f. V. pretantaine.
prétentieu-x, -se, adj., assuming, pretentious, affected, stilted (of style).
prétention, n.f., pretension, claim, intention, wish, expectation. Venir à bout de ses —s; to make good one’s claims. Sa — est mal fondée; his demand is groundless. Il a des —s à l’esprit; he thinks he is, or claims to be, witty. C’est un homme sans —s; he is a man of no pretensions. Se désister d’une —; to relinquish a claim.
prêter, v.a., to lend, to impart, to give rise to, to attribute, to ascribe, to father; to take (oath). — de l’argent à intérêt; to lend money on interest. — secours; to lend a helping hand. — main-forte à quelqu’un; to assist any one, to come to any one’s assistance. — l’oreille; to give ear (to), to listen. — serment; to take the oath. — foi et hommage; to take an oath of allegiance. — le collet à quelqu’un; to try one’s strength with any one. — le flanc; to expose one’s self. — à la petite semaine; to make short loans at a high rate of interest.