Crossword Dictionary
LIE
lie, prevarication - n
a statement that deviates from or perverts the truth
Synonyms
fabricate, fib, prevaricate
Examples
“I can't lie to him.â€
“Jennifer didn't lie about her father.â€
“You usually lie like a bragging fisherman, so I stopped asking.â€
Etymology
"speak falsely, tell an untruth for the purpose of misleading," late 12c., from Old English legan, ligan, earlier leogan "deceive, belie, betray" (class II strong verb; past tense leag, past participle logen), from Proto-Germanic *leuganan (source also of Old Norse ljuga, Danish lyve, Old Frisian liaga, Old Saxon and Old High German liogan, German lügen, Gothic liugan), a word of uncertain etymology, with possible cognates in Old Church Slavonic lugati, Russian luigatÄ; not found in Latin, Greek, or Sanskrit. Emphatic lie through (one's) teeth is from 1940s.