From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A
pretender
is someone who says that he or she has the
right
to be ruler. The word is often used to describe someone who claims that they have the right to be
king
,
queen
,
emperor
etc. They claim that the ruler who is on the throne should not be there.
Sometimes people call such a person a "claimant". The person may be an
imposter
(someone who is pretending to be someone else). Often they are pretending to be a prince or other royal person who is missing or whom people think is dead. However, they may have a genuine right to the throne. The word
pretend
comes from the French word
pretendre
(from the Latin
praetendo
lit. "to stretch out before"
[1]
). It means: to profess, to make a loud statement. In modern English the word
pretend
means "to claim falsely".
- ↑
Cassell's Latin Dictionary, ed. Marchant & Charles