pretendArchived 2023-01-30 at the Wayback Machine, The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition, 2020. "[Middle English pretenden, from Old French pretendre, from Latin praetendere : prae-, pre- + tendere, to extend]."
"pretender"Archived 2015-11-14 at the Wayback Machine, MacMillian Dictionary. "someone who claims to be the true king, queen, or leader of a country, when another person holds this position."
merriam-webster.com
"pretender"Archived 2021-06-24 at the Wayback Machine, Merriam-Webster, "a claimant to a throne who is held to have no just title." "pretender", Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford Dictionaries, 1989. "applied to a claimant who is held to have no just title."
Almanach de Gotha uses the "head of the house" terminology. It lists Karl von Habsburg as "Head of the Imperial House of Austria". It lists many others in the form "head of the royal house of [name]". (James, John. Almanach de Gotha 2016: Volume I Parts I & II) The classic 1944 editionArchived 2022-10-21 at the Wayback Machine uses "chef de la maison" (p. 104).
"pretender"Archived 2015-11-14 at the Wayback Machine, MacMillian Dictionary. "someone who claims to be the true king, queen, or leader of a country, when another person holds this position."
"pretender"Archived 2021-06-24 at the Wayback Machine, Merriam-Webster, "a claimant to a throne who is held to have no just title." "pretender", Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford Dictionaries, 1989. "applied to a claimant who is held to have no just title."
Almanach de Gotha uses the "head of the house" terminology. It lists Karl von Habsburg as "Head of the Imperial House of Austria". It lists many others in the form "head of the royal house of [name]". (James, John. Almanach de Gotha 2016: Volume I Parts I & II) The classic 1944 editionArchived 2022-10-21 at the Wayback Machine uses "chef de la maison" (p. 104).
pretendArchived 2023-01-30 at the Wayback Machine, The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition, 2020. "[Middle English pretenden, from Old French pretendre, from Latin praetendere : prae-, pre- + tendere, to extend]."
"prétendantArchived 2022-05-03 at the Wayback Machine," Global French–English Dictionary, 2018, "personne qui cherche à épouser" (a suiter).