▪ I. counterfeit, a. (pa. pple.) and n.
(ˈkaʊntəfɪt, -fiːt)
Forms: 3–6 countrefet(e, 4 -feet, 5 -fayt(e, 6 -feict; 4–5 contrefet(e, 5–6 -fayt(e, -faict, -fait; 6 Sc. contrafait; 5 contirfet, 6 conterfeit, etc.; 5–7 cownter-, countir-, countyrfet(e, etc.; 4–7 counterfet, -fete, -feet, 5–6 fett(e, 5–7 -feyt(e, -fayt(e, -fait(e, -faict, 6 -feict, -fect(e, -feight, etc., 6–7 -feat, etc., 7 -fitte, 6– -feit.
[a. OF. contrefet, -fait, pa. pple. of contrefaire= Pr. contrafar, Cat. contrafer, It. contraffare, f. L. type contrā-facĕre to make in opposition or contrast, hence, in opposing imitation. (Contrāfactio, setting in opposition or contrast, occurs in Cassiodorus, and the verb in med.L.). In Fr., from the 14th c., often spelt -faict after L., whence in Eng. in 15–16th c. -faict, -fect.]
† A. as pa. pple. Obs.
† 1. Made in imitation of that which is genuine; imitated, forged: see the verb. Obs.
| [1292 Britton i. v. §14 Deners countrefetz a nostre monee.] c 1386 [see counterfeit v. 1 b]. 1393 Gower Conf. I. 192 This letter..Was counterfet in suche a wise, That no man shulde it apperceive. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 803 Many well counterfeit Jewels, make the true mistrusted. 1631 Star Chamb. Cases (Camden) 69 That it was counterfeit by some young counterfeiter. |
† 2. Made to a pattern; fashioned, wrought. Obs.
| 1463 Bury Wills (1850) 23 A basyn and an ever of laten cownterfet therto. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xxxvi. xvii, Their shyppe boate curiously counterfayte. a 1547 Surrey æneid iv. 687 The water counterfet Like unto blacke Avernus lake. |
† 3. Transformed in appearance, disguised. Obs.
| c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon iv. 120 She loked a longe the halle, Where she saw her sonnes thus countrefayte, whyche she knewe not. Ibid. xiv. 315 He..dysguysed hymself wonderfully..And whan he was thus torned and countrefayt, etc. |
† 4. Represented by a picture or image. Obs.
| 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xix. (Arb.) 245 For nothing can be kindly counterfait or represented in his absence, but by great discretion. |
B. adj.
1. Of material things or substances: Made in imitation of something else, ‘imitation’, not genuine; made of inferior or base materials; spurious, sham, base (esp. of coin).
| c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. xvii. 99 If he be not but countir⁓feet goold. 1530 Palsgr. 209/2 Counterfayt heer, perrevcque. 1553 N. Grimalde Cicero's Offices (1556) 144 b, Counterfet money in stede of good. 1665 Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. iv. (1675) 194 A Bait, which..proves but a counterfeit Fly. 1666 Pepys Diary (1879) III. 497 A frame..of counterfeite tortoise shell. 1705 Addison Italy 12 The Palace, which without these Counterfeit Pillars would be beautiful in its kind. 1717 Lady M. W. Montague Lett. II. xlvi. 32 Of..that paste..they make counterfeit jewels. 1878 Jevons Primer Pol. Econ. 107 It is difficult to make any counterfeit gold or silver. |
b. Of writings: Forged, not genuine, spurious.
| 1393 Gower Conf. I. 194 This letter counterfete The messanger..bare. 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 579/1 Knowe whiche wer the verye true scripture of God, and which wer scriptures countrefet. 1655–60 Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 123/2 Panetius believes them to be his own, not counterfeit. 1788 Priestley Lect. Hist. iv. xxx. 224 To distinguish those that are truly ancient and genuine from such as are counterfeit. 1857 Maurice Ep. St. John ii. 21 To discern between the honest record and the counterfeit one. |
† c. Fashioned, made after a pattern. Obs.
| 1463 Act 3 Edw. IV, c. 4 Countrefeit basyns, ewers, hattes, brusshes, etc. |
2. Of things immaterial: Pretended, feigned, false, sham.
| 1393 Gower Conf. I. 70 Wiþ a contrefet simplesse, Which hid was in a fals corage. 1538 Bale Thre Lawes 1389 That counterfet church standeth al by mennys tradycyons. a 1639 W. Whately Prototypes ii. xxvi. (1640) 17 This painted and counterfeit goodnesse. 1718 Freethinker No. 39 ¶5 These Counterfeit Terrours often grow..to be Real. 1837 J. H. Newman Par. Serm. (ed. 3) I. xiv. 205, I also warn you against a counterfeit earnestness. |
| Comb. 1538 Beggar's Petit. in Select. Harl. Misc. (1793) 151 Counterfeit-holy, and idle beggars, and vagabonds. |
† b. Disguised. Obs.
| 1724 Swift Drapier's Lett. v, This counterfeit hand of my prentice is not very legible. |
3. Of persons: a. That pretends or is falsely represented to be (what is denoted by the noun); sham, pretended.
| 1530 Palsgr. 209/2 Counterfayt gentylman, gentillatre. 1548 Hall Chron. 229 This counterfeight Herault. c 1600 Norden Spec. Brit., Cornw. (1728) 33 Perkyn Werbeck..a counterfeck Prince. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 117 Ire, envie and despair, Which marrd his borrow'd visage, and betraid Him counterfet, if any eye beheld. 1823 Chalmers Serm. I. 420 The counterfeit and the worthless Poor do a world of mischief to the cause of beneficence. |
† b. Pretending to be what he is not; false, deceitful. Obs.
| a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon liv. 181 He is some counterfeyt varlet. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 18 A craftie, close, and counterfect felow. 1603 Jas. I in Ellis Orig. Lett. i. 244 III. 80, I ame also glaide of the discoverie of yone litle counterfitte Wenche. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. vi. §22 Fabulous or counterfeit writers. |
† 4. Misshapen, deformed. Obs. [After F. contrefait; cf. counterfeited 2.]
| c 1450 Merlin xxxii. 635 A dwerf, the moste contirfet and foulest that eny hadde sein. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 422/2 Hir ii handes were styffe and contrefayte. 1575 Turberv. Venerie 52 Harts beare their heads in diuers sorts and manners, some well growne..some other counterfet. |
† 5. Imitated or represented in a picture or image (or transf. in writing or literary art); portrayed.
| 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xix. (Arb.) 246 This kinde of representation is called the Counterfait countenance. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. iv. 54 Looke heere, vpon this Picture, and on this, The counterfet presentment of two Brothers. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. x, To infuse into the counterfeit countenance of Miss Nickleby a bright salmon flesh-tint. |
C. n.
1. A false or spurious imitation. a. of material things or substances.
| c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xiv. 160 Men counterfeten hem [diamonds] often of cristalle..But..theise contrefetes ben not so harde. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 540 Neuer call a true peece of Gold a Counterfeit. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia i. 17 They haue no Beards but counterfeits. 1726 De Foe Hist. Devil ii. viii. (1840) 289 Every coin has its counterfeit, every art its pretender. 1864 Bowen Logic xi. 353, I cannot be sure that it is an apple. It may be only a wax counterfeit. |
b. of things abstract or immaterial.
| 1599 Shakes. Much Ado ii. iii. 109 Counterfeit? There was neuer counterfeit of passion came so neere the life of passion as she discouers it. 1649 Milton Eikon. Pref., Els Justice..were not Justice, but a fals counterfet of that impartial and Godlike vertue. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 169 One who does not value real glory, will not value its counterfeit. |
c. A writing, etc. that is not genuine; a forgery.
| 1613 J. Salkeld Treat. Angels 322 Though for the same also Origines be cited: yet certaine it is, that that Origines is a counterfeit. 1624 Gataker Transubst. 109 Citing (besides some of his owne counterfaits..) a saying of S. Chrysostome. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull iii. iii, He has the original deed..the others are counterfeits. |
† 2. One who imitates another for whom he passes himself off; a pretender, an impostor. Obs.
| 1574 tr. Marlorat's Apocalips 30 Of which Epistles..the fifth and seuenth are directed too the counterfets and hypocrites. 1631 Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 232 The two counterfeits, Lambert, and Perkin Warbeck. 1653 Holcroft Procopius iii. 88 Narses met him; and upon speech with him, found him a counterfet. 1754 Sherlock Disc. (1759) I. i. 36 The specious Pretences of Counterfeits and Impostors. 1768 H. Walpole Hist. Doubts 86 The persons who could best detect the Counterfeit, if he [Perkin Warbeck] had been one. |
† b. = counterfeiter 1. Obs. rare.
| 1605 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. Vocation 1326 To boyl to death some cunning counterfeit That with false stamp some Princes Coyn hath beat. |
† 3. An imitation or representation in painting, sculpture, etc.; an image, likeness, portrait. Obs.
| c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xx. 218 All þo þat ben maryed han a countrefete made lyche a mannes foot vpon here hedes..in tokene þat þei ben vnder mannes fote and vnder subieccioun. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 322 They never painted the resemblaunce or counterfaite of Gods contenaunce in table, or picture. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iii. ii. 115 What finde I here? Faire Portias counterfeit. 1606 Holland Sueton. 39 An olde little counterfeit in brasse representing him being a child. 1620 T. May Heir in Dodsley (1780) VIII. 126 Wear it about 'em as lovers do their mistress' counterfeit. 1665 Phil. Trans. I. 99 Making more lively Counterfaits of Nature in Wax. a 1843 Southey Inscriptions xlv, Him, in whose prophetic counterfeit Preserved, the children..may see their father's face, Here to the very life pourtray'd. |
b. fig. A copy. arch.
| 1587 Golding De Mornay xiv. (1617) 210 In the outward man we haue a Counterfeit of the whole world. 1591 Troub. Raigne K. John (1611) 16 He looketh like the king..I neuer saw so liuely counterfet Of Richard Cordelion, as in him. 1879 J. D. Long æneid ix. 378 Entranced at such A counterfeit of his own filial love. |
† 4. A deformed or misshapen person: cf. B. 4.
| 1557 North Gueuara's Diall Pr. 73 b/2, I am lame, I am crooked, I am balde, I am a counterfeyte. 1578 T. N. tr. Conq. W. India 177 He had Dwarfes, crookebacks, and other deformed counterfeits..to laugh at. |
† 5. The action of counterfeiting. Obs. rare.
| 1843 tr. Custine's Empire of Czar III. 309 Such originality as they have lies in the gift of counterfeit. |
▪ II. counterfeit, v.
(ˈkaʊntəfɪt, -fiːt)
Forms: see prec.
[f. prec.; taken as ad. F. contrefaire.]
1. trans. To make an imitation of, imitate (with intent to deceive): a. an action, etc.
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 4311 Þus sal anticrist þan countrefette Þe wondirs of God. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 30 b, By theyr enchauntementes..counterfeytynge the myracles of Moyses. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 1069 That false Worm, of whomsoever taught To counterfet Mans voice. 1719 J. Richardson Art Crit. 186 Colouring and Drawing..are as impossible to be Counterfeited as the Handling. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. vi, Counterfeiting a sneeze. |
b. a thing: To make a fraudulent imitation of, forge (e.g. coin, bank-notes, handwriting).
| c 1386 Chaucer Man of Law's T. 648 (Harl. MS.) Stolen were his lettres pryuely..And countrefet þey were subtilly. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xiv. 160 Men counterfeten hem [diamonds] often of cristall. 1590 Hakluyt Pict. Virginia Pref. (1888), Yf any seeke to contrefaict thes my bookx. 1602 W. Fulbecke 1st Pt. Parall. 88 If a man doe counterfeit the Kings money..this is treason. 1621 H. Elsing Debates Ho. Lords (Camden) 95 The prisoners which counterfeyted my L. Staffordes hande and seale. 1737 Berkeley Let. Wks. 1871 IV. 249 That it be felony to counterfeit the notes of this bank. 1790 Paley Horæ Paul. i. 6 Two attempts to counterfeit St. Paul's epistles. 1839 Thirlwall Greece II. 378 He counterfeited the seal of Pausanias, [and] opened the letter entrusted to him. 1875 Jevons Money (1878) 43 The coins..would become dirty and easily counterfeited. |
| absol. 1724 Swift Drapier's Lett. vi, Continuing, and counterfeiting as long as he lives. |
† c. To make spurious, adulterate. Obs.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. xvii. xli (1495), Saffron is somtyme countrefetyd wyth a thynge that hyght Croco magina..the superfluyte of spycery. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 65 It [saffron] is craftily counterfeited by..adding thereto..lead to encrease the weight. 1686 W. Harris tr. Lemery's Chym. i. xvi. (ed. 3) 367 Crystal Mineral is often counterfeited by mixing Rocke alom with it during the fusion..This adulteration may be known, etc. |
2. To make (anything) in fraudulent imitation of something else; to make or devise (something spurious) and pass it off as genuine; to forge.
| c 1386 Chaucer Man of Law's T. 648 And countrefeted was ful subtilly Another lettre wroght ful synfully. 1393 [see counterfeit pa. pple. 1]. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) v. 52 The fyn bawme is more heuy twyes, þan is the bawme þ{supt} is sophisticat and counterfeted. 1560 Sum. Certain Reasons in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) II. 477 By continuing of the base monies, divers persons..have counterfaicted. 1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 267 He lost a Ring of Gold..he conceals the loss, and counterfeits another like it of silver. 1726 Adv. Capt. R. Boyle 329 She..counterfeited the Letter she gave me as from her Father. 1873 Act 36–7 Vict. c. 86 §25 Every person who forges or counterfeits any certificate. |
† 3. To put a false or deceiving appearance upon; to disguise, falsify. Obs.
| c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon vii. 172 Reynawde.. contrefaytted thus his langage, by cause the duke Naymes sholde not knowe hym. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. vi. 44 Men like players counterfeted and disguysed. 1679 G. R. tr. Boyatuau's Theat. World i. 36 He counterfeits his voice, so that you would think it some other bird. 1722 De Foe Moll Fl. (1840) 324, I counterfeited my voice. |
4. To put on (with intent to deceive) the appearance or semblance of; to feign, pretend, simulate. a. with simple obj. (a feeling, quality, etc.).
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 13 Bot if þay conterfete crafte..As be honest vt-wyth, and in-with alle fylþez, Þen ar þay synful. c 1534 tr. Pol. Verg. Eng. Hist. (Camden) I. 250 Hee, cownterfitinge great expedition to fighte, slipped away unto his adversaries. 1608 Bp. Hall Char. Virtues & V. ii. 76 The Hypocrite..counterfeits a smiling welcome. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. ii. v. §1 To deter men..from counterfeiting a Prophetick Spirit. 1753 Johnson Adventurer No. 120 ¶6 To counterfeit happiness which they do not feel. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. iv. ii, To counterfeit death. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 326 Signs of increasing prosperity..which could neither be counterfeited nor concealed. |
† b. with obj. clause or inf. Obs.
| 1534 Whitinton Tullyes Offices i. (1540) 15 Counterfayting that truce was taken for the dayes, and not for the nyghtes. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. 110 b, False teachers..countrefeiting to preache my gospell. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. iv. iii. 174 Take a good heart, and counterfeit to be a man. 1639 Fuller Holy War iv. xii. (1647) 189 These Templars were loth King Lewis should come to Ptolemais, though they counterfeited he should be very welcome there. |
† c. refl. with inf. or compl. Obs.
| 1610 Healey St. Aug. Citie of God 2 [They] counterfeited themselves to be the servants of Christ. 1650 Fuller Pisgah ii. x. 218 David to save his life counterfeited himself mad. 1726 De Foe Hist. Devil ii. v. (1840) 231 Who counterfeited himself to be a devil. |
† d. intr. (for refl.) with compl. Obs. rare.
| 1641 Milton Ch. Govt. vi. (1851) 124 The same man of sin counterfeiting protestant. 1649 ― Eikon. i. (1851) 344 The deepest policy of a Tyrant hath bin ever to counterfet Religious. |
† 5. To assume the character of (a person, etc.); to pretend to be; to pass oneself off as; to personate. Obs.
| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 14/449 Bi him þat þou countrefetest. c 1325 Poem Times Edw. II 122 in Pol. Songs (Camden) 329 Thise abbotes and priours..riden wid hauk and hound, and contrefeten knihtes. 1480 Robt. Devyll 33 He muste counterfeyt a fole in all manere. 1550 Crowley Inform. & Petit. 483 Tenauntes not able to be lande lordes, and yet, after a sorte, they conterfayte landelordes. 1622 Bacon Hen. VII (J.), To counterfeit and personate the second son of Edward IV. supposed to be murdered. |
6. intr. To feign, make pretence, practise deceit.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 1483, I am seke in ernest..Quod Pandarus, Thow shalt the betir pleyne, And hast the lesse nede to contrefete. 1477 Norton Ord. Alch. iv. in Ashm. (1652) 48 They will counterfaict to beguile their Brother. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. iv. ii. 122 Are you not mad indeed, or do you but counterfeit? 1685 Cotton tr. Montaigne (1877) I. 72 In this last scene of death, there is no more counterfeiting. |
7. trans. To take, receive, or have the appearance of; to ‘imitate’, be an imitation of, simulate, resemble, be like. (Without implying deceit.)
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A. 555 More haf we serued..Þen þyse þat wroȝte not hourez two, And þou dotz hem vus to counterfete. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. v. vi. 173 So as it ne may nat contrefeten it..ne ben euene lyke to it. 1592 West 1st Pt. Symbol. §32 F, These Contractes..in respect of labor to bee taken..counterfait Location and conduction. 1632 Milton Penseroso 80 Where glowing embers through the room Teach light to counterfeit a gloom. a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840) III. 113 A bridge, which, being built on both sides, counterfeiteth a continued street. 1777 Sir W. Jones Pal. Fortune Poems 25 A golden ray..taught the gloom to counterfeit the day. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) I. 166 Sleep counterfeited Death so well. |
† 8. To imitate, copy: a. To follow the example of (a person). Obs.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 1119 Wol ȝe the childishe Ialous contrefete? c 1386 ― Nun's Pr. T. 501 Now syngeth sire..Let se konne ye youre fader countrefete? a 1420 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1186, I may not countirfete Scipioun In armes. 1526 Tindale 1 Cor. iv. 16, I desyre you to counterfayte me. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 222 Counterfeictyng those that doe speake distinctly. 1607 T. Walkington Opt. Glass vii. (1664) 83 They..do apishly counterfeit, and resemble a Poet. |
† b. To imitate or follow (conduct, action, manner, fashion). Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 139 She..peyned hire to countrefete cheere Of Court and to been estatlich of manere. 1513 Douglas æneis xiii. ii. 100 Ȝe contyrfeyt my reuth and pite eik. 1558 Kennedy Compend. Tractive in Wodr. Soc. Misc. (1844) 132 Walde God thair wer als mony contrefatit thair repentance as dois thair vice. 1604 Jas. I Counterbl. (Arb.) 105 Counterfeiting the maners of others. |
† c. To make an imitation or copy of (a thing). Obs. exc. as in 1 b.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. xi. 133 Of alle maner craftus I con counterfeten heor tooles. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 50 Som making earth in mould do counterfeite Brickwals. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia ii. 32 Every part as artificially counterfeited as they can devise. 1621 Lady M. Wroth Urania 519 Her complexion..neuer was for excellency equald, or could be counterfeited. |
† d. To make or devise (a thing) in imitation of something else. Obs.
| c 1430 Freemasonry 22 Thys onest craft of good masonry Wes..Y-cownterfetyd of thys clerkys y-fere. 1575 Gascoigne Pr. Pleas. Kenilw., Who had likewise huge and monstrous Trumpettes counterfetted wherein they seemed to sound. |
† 9. To represent by a picture, statue, or the like; to depict, delineate, portray. Also said of the picture, etc. Obs.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 99 Cowntyrfetyn, configuro, conformo. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 313 It requireth an Apelles to have Alexander well counterfaited. 1642 R. Carpenter Experience iv. i. 125 The pictures counterfeit men and women. 1660 H. Bloome (title), The booke of five collumnes of architecture..Drawn and counterfeited after the right Symmetry and cunning measure of Free-Masons. |
† b. To represent, portray, or reproduce in writing or by literary art. Obs.
| c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 1241, I can not now well counterfete Her wordes, but this was the grete Of her answere. 1530 Palsgr. 17 Suche as writte farcis and contrefait the vulgare speche. |