fainaigue

      English

      Etymology

      Unknown Britishism, of uncertain origin.

      Maybe from fain, homonym of feign (“to pretend”) and ague (“acute illness”) or cognate French aigüe (as in maladie aiguë, “acute illness”) – literally “to act sick”.

      Pronunciation

      Verb

      fainaigue (third-person singular simple present fainaigues, present participle fainaiguing, simple past and past participle fainaigued)

      1. (intransitive) To evade work or shirk responsibility
      2. (intransitive) To renege in card games

      Derived terms

      Last modified on 12 June 2013, at 23:14