Baretti: A dictionary of the English and Italian languages
Preténde-re, v. a. (V. tendere,)
1. to claim, challenge, demand, expect; 2. to aim, aspire to, stand for; 3. to intend, design, mean, propose;4. to maintain the affirmative of a proposition;adj. Preténde-nte.
Florio: a worlde of wordes, or most copious, dictionarie in Italian and English
pretendere: to pretend, to intend, to meane before hand. Also to challenge or lay claime vnto. Also to couer or hide with any thing, to lay for a cloke or excuse. Also to draw or spread before.