pretender

noun

1. (obsolete, rare)One who intends or purposes.

   “Pretensor, a pretender, he that purposeth.”

   “Pretendente, a pretendent, a pretender, an intender, a meaner.”

2. One who puts forth a claim, or who aspires to or aims at something; a claimant, candidate, or aspirant; now, one who makes baseless pretensions.

   “By how straight a Rule […] must that Pretender carry himselfe, who is to saile thorow the sea of this world, hoping for a fortune from another mans hand?”

   “[…]; to consider the direct purposes of God against his enemies, rather than the sinister supplantations of pretenders to places in court; […]”

   “Every one is a pretender and a runner; but few carry the prize.”

   “The issue of the eldest son excludes all other pretenders, as the son himself (if living) would have done.”

   “A candidate for a school at Brewood in Staffordshire; to which, I think, there are seventeen pretenders.”

3. (obsolete)One who puts forth a claim, or who aspires to or aims at something; a claimant, candidate, or aspirant; now, one who makes baseless pretensions.

   “He, of the two pretenders, that best loves me.”

   “An Earles daughter, […] whose mother not allowing him to come as a pretender shee made apointmentt with him and mett him att her cousin’s howse.”

   “It is not my design to dispose of Irene to the most noble, but most wealthy of the Pretenders to her Love.”

4. One who puts forth a claim, or who aspires to or aims at something; a claimant, candidate, or aspirant; now, one who makes baseless pretensions.

   “If inteſtine Broils allarm the Hive, / (For two Pretenders oft for Empire ſtrive)”

   “I Think it necessary to acquaint you, that I have received Advices this Morning from Ostend, that the French Fleet sailed from Dunkirk, Tuesday at three in the Morning, Northward, with the Pretender on board; as also, that Sir George Byng had notice of it the same Day at ten: And he being very much superior to the Enemy both in Number and Strength, I make no question, but, by God’s Blessing, he will soon be able to give a good Account of them.”

   “She [Q. Anne] also fixed a new Designation on the Pretended Prince of Wales, and called him the Pretender; he was so called in a new Set of Addresses […] upon this occasion […] made to the Queen.”

   “the provost’s enemies at the council-table of the burgh used to observe that he uttered there many a bold harangue against the Pretender, and in favour of King George and government, of which he dared not have pronounced a syllable in his own bedchamber”

   “The pretender […] had friends in the tory government more sincere probably and zealous than [the earl of] Oxford.”

5. One who pretends or lays claim to something; one who makes a profession, show, or assertion, especially without adequate grounds, falsely, or with intent to deceive; a dissembler, deceiver, charlatan, hypocrite.

   “A pretender / To the art, I truely honor, and ſubſcribe / To your maieſties opinion.”

   “Make it a feast, and perfit your great injustice / In the surrendringe up this false pretender / To the correction of the law, […]”

   “But this pretence of Covenant with God, is so evident a lye, even in the pretenders own consciences, that it is not onely an act of an unjust, but also a vile, and unmanly disposition.”

   “[…]But, I answer; that it is not so easy an Acquirement as a few ignorant Pretenders may imagine.”

   “That honour has been long The boast of mere pretenders to the name.”

6. A person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold.

verb

1. (uncommon)To tender (a bid, etc.) in advance.

   “The LPM coordinates closely with the EPM and the case attorney throughout the pretendering period. The Licensing Assistant (LA) in the assigned project branch requests that a project number be assigned by the Records Facilities[…]”

   “Long-term delivery items were pretendered and purchased by the Government of the Northwest Territories in early 1975. Pretendered items included the polyethylene pipe and Victaulic couplings, a portable gasoline engine driven pump[…]”

   “The prime contractor is then required to incorporate this pretendered work into his project schedule. In a similar fashion, the owner may want direct control over special materials needed on his project.”

   “These included pretendered "direct call-off" contracts covering over 50,000 products and services; the "Pathfinder" service for larger or more complex procurements; and direct sales and spot buying, where TBA coordinates volume[…]”

   “The expanded pretendering activities will be initiated about 9 months prior to the proposed tendering of an application and will be designed to provide additional guidance and direction to the applicant during the preparation of its[…]”