dissemblance (1)

[Eng. di embl(e); -ance.] The act or power of di embling. "I wanted those old instruments of state Di emblance and suspect." Marston: Malcontent, i. 4. *dis-sem-blance (2), s. [Pref. dis, and Eng. semblance (q. v.).] An unlikene , or di imilarity. "Nor can there be a greater di emblance between one wise man and another." -Osborne: Advice to a Son (1658). dis-sem-ble, v . t . & i. [O. Fr. di embler ; Fr. di imuler , from Lat. di imulo to di imulate, to conceal: dis away, apart, and simulo to pretend; Sp. disimular ; Ital. dis simul are .] A. Trarsitive : 1. To pretend that not to be which really is; to hide under a false appearance; to disguise, to conceal. "They should have either di embled their displeasure, or openly declared the true reasons for it."-Macaulay: Hist. Eng., ch. xviii. boil, boy; pout, jowl; cat, çell, chorus, *2. To pretend that to be which is not; to feign. "Di embling sleep, and watchful to betray." Dryden: Sigismonda and Guiscardo, 243. chin, bench; go, gem; thin, this; *3. To imitate. di eminating "The gold di embled well their yellow hair." Dryden: Virgil's Æneid, viii. 875. *4. To disguise, to make unrecognizable. "I'll put it [a gown] on, and I will di emble myself in't."-Shakesp.: Twelfth Night , iv. 2. B. Intransitive : *1. To give a false appearance. "What wicked and di embling gla of mine Made me compare with Hermia's sphery eyne?" Shakesp.: Midsummer Night's Dream, ii. 2. 2. To a ume a false appearance; to play the hypocrite; to conceal or disguise one's real thoughts under a false exterior. "She was far too violent to flatter or to di emble ." Macaulay: Hist. Eng., ch. xv. For the difference between to di emble and to conceal , see CONCEAL. dis-sem-bled (bled as beld), pa. par. or a. [DISSEMBLE.]