▪ I. † diˈssemble, n. Obs. rare.
[f. dissemble v.1]
The act of dissembling, dissimulation. (In quot. personified.)
| c 1480 Crt. of Love 1191 Dissemble stood not fer from him in trouth, With party mantill, party hood and hose. |
▪ II. dissemble, v.1
(dɪˈsɛmb(ə)l)
Also 6 dissimble, Sc. -sembill, dyssembul, -symble, 7 desemble.
[app. a later form of dissimule v., through the intermediate stages dissimill, dissimble, influenced perh. by resemble. (There is no corresponding form in F.: cf. the next two words.)]
1. trans. To alter or disguise the semblance of (one's character, a feeling, design, or action) so as to conceal, or deceive as to, its real nature; to give a false or feigned semblance to; to cloak or disguise by a feigned appearance.
| 1513 More Rich. III, Wks. 65 Some..not able to dissemble their sorrow, were fayne at his backe to turne their face to the wall. 1552 Bk. Com. Prayer, Morn. Pr., That we shoulde not dissemble nor cloke them [our sins] before the face of Almighty God. 1665 Manley Grotius' Low C. Warres 715 Among the Bodies..was found a Woman, who had dissembled her Sex, both in courage and a military Habit. 1709 Tatler No. 32 ¶4 With an Air of great Distance, mixed with a certain Indifference, by which he could dissemble Dissimulation. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. II. xlvi. 723 He dissembled his perfidious designs. 1850 Prescott Peru II. 20 He was well pleased with the embassy, and dissembled his consciousness of its real purpose. 1860 Emerson Cond. Life, Behaviour Wks. (Bohn) II. 385 How many furtive inclinations avowed by the eye, though dissembled by the lips! |
† 2. To disguise. Obs.
| 1508 Dunbar Tua mariit Wemen 254, I wes dissymblit suttelly in a sanctis liknes. 1529 More Dyaloge iv. Wks. 283/1 Though he dissembled himselfe to bee a Lutherane whyle he was here, yete as sone as he gate him hence, he gate him to Luther strayght. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. iv. ii. 4 Ile put it on, and I will dissemble my selfe in't; and I would I were the first that euer dissembled in such a gowne. 1665 J. Spencer Vulg. Prophecies 21 Their deformity appeared through the finest colors he could dissemble it with. 1697 Dryden æneid xii. 340 Dissembling her immortal form, she [Juturna] took Camertus meen. |
3. To pretend not to see or notice; to pass over, neglect, ignore.
| c 1500 [see dissembling vbl. n.]. c 1555 Harpsfield Divorce Hen. VIII (1878) 233, I will not urge..the Pope's..authority..I will dissemble that excellency. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 823 Wherfore he determined to dissemble [Hall dissimule] the matter as though he knew nothing. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 150 Some lyght faults lette them dissemble, as though they knew them not, and seeing them let them not seeme to see them. 1692 Ray Dissol. World iii. viii. (1732) 395, I must not dissemble a great Difficulty. 1701 Wallis 24 Sept. in Pepys Mem., It hath been too late to dissemble my being an old man. 1703 Rowe Ulysses i. i. 75 Learn to dissemble Wrongs. 1761 Hume Hist. Eng. II. xlii. 451 Philip..seemed to dissemble the daily insults and injuries which he received from the English. |
b. with clause: To shut one's eyes to the fact.
| 1554 Ridley Lord's Supper Wks. 41 It is neither to be denied, nor dissembled that..there be diuerse points wherein men..canne not agree. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. 11 It cannot be dissembled, that..it hath pleased God [etc.]. 1692 Ray Dissol. World ii. ii. (1732) 107, I must not dissemble or deny, that in the Summer-time the Vapours do ascend. a 1831 A. Knox Rem. (1844) I. 54 It cannot be dissembled, that..the House of Commons seems to feel no other principle than that of vulgar policy. 1871 Morley Voltaire (1886) 8 No attempt is made in these pages to dissemble in how much he was condemnable. |
c. intr. const. with.
| a 1533 Frith Wks. (1573) 51 These holy doctours..thought it not best..to condemne all thinges indifferently: but to suffer and dissemble wyth the lesse. |
4. absol. or intr. To conceal one's intentions, opinions, etc. under a feigned guise; ‘to use false professions, to play the hypocrite’ (J.).
| 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. clxxx. 216 Therfore the duke dissembled for the pleasur of the prouost. 1535 Coverdale 1 Macc. xi. 53 He dyssembled in all that euer he spake. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. ii. i. 9 Tel Whom thou lou'st best: see thou dissemble not. 1671 Milton P.R. i. 467 The subtle fiend..Dissembled, and this answer smooth return'd. 1713 Addison Cato i. ii, I must dissemble, And speak a language foreign to my heart. 1852 Longfellow Warden Cinque Ports xi, He did not pause to parley nor dissemble. |
b. const. with: To use dissimulation with.
| 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) 142, I dissemble not with you..for you shall finde it and prove it to be true. 1667 Poole Dial. betw. Protest. & Papist (1735) 83, I will not dissemble with you, they do not. 1718 Freethinker No. 75 ¶3 He who dissembles with, or betrays, one Man, would betray every Man. 1829 Southey All for Love vi, Dissemble not with me thus. |
† 5. trans. To put on a feigned or false appearance of; to feign, pretend, simulate. Obs.
| 1538 Starkey England i. iii. 91 Men may dyssembyl and fayne grete pouerty, where as non ys. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 467 You were not your selfe ignoraunt, albeit you dissembled the contrary. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 304 This Creature..that can dissemble death so naturally. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 83 ¶2 I'm lost if you don't dissemble a little Love for me. 1791 Boswell Johnson an. 1752 To suppose that Johnson's fondness for her was dissembled. |
† b. with inf. or clause. Obs.
| 1654 R. Codrington tr. Hist. Ivstine 60 The King dissembled that his Coat of Mayl was not fit for him. 1813 T. Busby tr. Lucretius iv. 913 Fancy..Lost friends, past joys, dissembleth to restore. |
† c. To feign or pretend (some one) to be something. Also with ellipsis of the inf., or of both object and inf. Obs.
| 1634 Ford P. Warbeck i. i, Charles of France..Dissembled him the lawful heir of England. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. iii. vii. §19 John Scott dissembled himself an English-man. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 176 Esteemed a Jew though he dissembled the Christian. Ibid. 246 Moores who dissembled Christians. |
† d. fig. To simulate by imitation. Obs.
| 1697 Dryden æneid viii. 880, The gold dissembl'd well their yellow hair. |
▪ III. † dissemble, v.2 Obs. rare.
[a. OF. dessembler, dissembler to be unlike, f. des-, dis- 4 + sembler to be like, to seem: the opposite of ressembler to resemble. Cf. dissemblance1 1, -able.]
trans. To be unlike, to differ from, resemble not.
| 1586 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. (1589) 183 His end dissembled not his life. For, being hated of all and sought for to be slaine, he [Nero] killed himselfe. |
▪ IV. † diˈssemble, v.3 Obs. rare.
[ad. OF. dessembler to separate, f. des-, dis- 4 + stem of as-sembler to assemble.]
intr. To separate, disperse: = disassemble.
| 1591 Horsey Trav. (Hakl. Soc.) 177 The chieff bishops..assembled and disembled often tymes together, much perplexed and devided. |