counterfeit (kounterfit)

and n. [ 1303 OF.contrefaire, mod. F. contrefaire = Pr.contra far = OSp. contra facer, Sp. contrahacer = Pg. contrafazer = It. contraffare, imitate, counterfeit, F. faire, etc.), make: see counter-, contra-, and fact, feat. The same radical element -feit occurs also in surfeit, benefit. Cf. counterfeit, v.] I. a. 1. Made in semblance or imitation of an original; imitated; copied; factitious. Look here, upon this picture, and on this; The counterfeit presentment of two brothers. Shak ., Hamlet, iii. 4. counterfort uine; forge: as, to counterfeit coin, bank-notes, a seal, a bond, a deed or other instrument in writing, the handwriting or signature of another, etc.-3. To feign; make a pretense of; simulate; pretend; put on a semblance of: as, to counterfeit piety. Full well they laughed, with counterfeited glee, At all his jokes, for many a joke had he. Goldsmith, Des. Vil., 1. 201. 41. To make in imitation, or as a counterpart of something else. And countrefeted was ful subtilly Another lettre. Chaucer, Man of Law's Tale, 1. 648. 2. Specifically, made in imitation of an original, with a view to defraud by pa ing the false copy as genuine or original; forged; spurious: 51. To feign or pretend to be (what one is not). as, counterfeit coin; a counterfeit bond or deed; a counterfeit bill of exchange. The deepest policy of a Tyrant hath bin ever to counter fet Religious. Milton , Eikon ok las tes, i. The lewes, seeking to be reuenged of this counterfeit = Syn. Mimic , Ape , etc. (see imitate ), forge, simulate, Moses, could no where finde him. Purchas , Pilgrimage, p. 159. 3. Feigned; simulated; false; hypocritical: as, a counterfeit friend. Yet can I weep most seriously at a play, and receive with a true pa ion the counterfeit griefs of those known and profe ed impostures. Sir T. Browne , Religio Medici, ii. 5. 4t. Counterfeiting; di embling; cheating. Why, this is an arrant counterfeit rascal;...a bawd, a cutpurse. 5t. Deformed; unnatural. Shak ., Hen. V., iii. 6. And [she] hadde brought be-fore hir on hir sadell a dwerf, the moste contirfet and foulest that eny hadde sein. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 635. Counterfeit Medals Act, an English statute of 1883 (46 and 47 Vict., c. 45) which prohibits the manufacture, po e ion, and sale of medals resembling coins. = Syn. 1-3. Supposititious, etc. (see spurious ), forged, feigned, simulated, fictitious, sham, mock. sham, feign. II. in trans. To feign; di emble; carry on a fiction or deception. How ill agrees it with your gravity, To counterfeit thus gro ly with your slave. Shak ., C. of E., ii. 2. He who counterfeit eth , acts a part. Sir T. Browne, Christ. Mor., iii. 20. counterfeiter (koun'tér-fit-ér), n. 1. One who counterfeits; one who copies or imitates; specifically, one who illegally makes copies of current bank-notes or coin. - 2. One who a umes a false appearance, or who makes false pretenses: as, " counterfeiters of devotion," Sherwood.