Counterfeit

How to spell counterfeit

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce counterfeit

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does counterfeit mean?

1. adjectiveMade in exact imitation of something valuable with the intent to deceive; fake.
2. nounA fraudulent imitation of something genuine, especially money or goods.
3. verbTo imitate something fraudulently in order to deceive.

Counterfeit in a sentence

• adjective

  The cashier spotted a counterfeit note when she held it to the light.

• noun

  The watch looked authentic, but the jeweller confirmed it was a counterfeit.

• verb

  The gang tried to counterfeit designer trainers and sell them online.

• adjective

  Customs officers seized hundreds of counterfeit handbags at the border.

• noun

  The bank trained staff to tell a real bill from a counterfeit.

• verb

  It is a serious crime to counterfeit currency in any country.

Where does counterfeit come from?

Language of origin: French

Counterfeit reached English in the 1300s from the Old French contrefait, the past participle of contrefaire, which meant 'to imitate' or 'to make in opposition to'. That verb was built from contre, meaning 'against' or 'in copy of', and faire, 'to make', which descends from the Latin facere, 'to do or make'. The earliest English sense was simply 'made in imitation', and it only later narrowed toward the modern idea of a fraudulent copy of money or goods. The same facere root quietly sits inside a crowd of familiar words such as 'factory', 'manufacture', and 'fact', all tied to the notion of making. The tricky spelling is a fossil of that French ending: the '-feit' looks nothing like the way we say it, which is exactly why writers stumble, and the 'ei' order trips up anyone reaching for the usual 'ie'.

How the word is built

• counter- (from Latin contra: against, in imitation of)
• feit (from Latin facere: to make)