counterfeiter
(ˈkaʊntəfɪtə(r))
Forms: see counterfeit; also with endings 5 -ere, 6–7 -or, -our, (-ure).
[a. F. contrefaiteur, f. contrefaire to counterfeit: cf. bienfaiteur benefactor. See -er2 3.]
One who counterfeits: see the verb.
1. One who makes fraudulent imitations (of coins, seals, documents, etc.); a forger; spec. a maker of counterfeit coins, a coiner.
| c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode iii. xvii. (1869) 144 A..counter⁓fetere of seles. 1534 Act 26 Hen. VIII, c. 6. §6 The counterfeiters of any coyne currant within this realme. 1605 Camden Rem. (1636) 184 Coyne which was corrupted by Counterfeitours. 1697 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) IV. 269 The counterfeiters of the exchequer bills. 1875 Jevons Money (1878) 60 To baffle the skill of the counterfeiter. |
2. One who imitates (a person or an action) with intent to deceive; a pretender, dissembler.
| 1547–64 Bauldwin Mor. Philos. (Palfr.) iii. iv, He cannot be a true seruer of God..but..a counterfaiter of Gods seruice. 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. i. 16 Satan is in many thinges a counterfaiter of God. 1575 Fulke Confut. Doctr. Purg. (1577) 170 That..shamelesse counterfector, that calleth him selfe..Bishop of Ierusalem. 1581 Marbeck Bk. of Notes 224 A counterfetter and dissembler. 1611 Cotgr., Cafard, an hypocrite; a counterfeiter of, or dissembler in, religion. 1719 J. Richardson Art Crit. 185 To know whether a Picture be of..such a Master..: The best Counterfeiter of Hands cannot do it so well as to deceive a good Connoisseur. |
3. An imitator (with no sense of deceit).
| 1526 Tindale Eph. v. 1 Be ye counterfeters of God. 1548 Hall Chron. 232 b, No man hathe sene a better counterfaytor or player in any Comedie or Tragedie. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie i. i. (Arb.) 20 A Poet..is both a maker and a counterfaitor. 1859 Darwin Orig. Spec. xiv. (1873) 376 The counterfeiters have changed their dress. |