Wordwyrt

counterfeit

/ˈkaʊntəˌfɪt/KOWN-tur-fit
/ˈkaʊntɚˌfɪt/KOWN-tur-fit

Meaningagainst

Common meaning: fake or made to deceive

Journey through time

  1. Latincontra‘against’source
  2. Old Frenchmeaning shiftsagainst → imitated or forgedcontrefait‘imitated or forged’source
  3. Middle Englishcontrefet‘forged’source
  4. Englishmeaning shiftsforged → fake or made to deceivecounterfeit‘fake or made to deceive’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin contra ‘against’.

Roots

  • contra Latin “against a proclamation”

Related words

contrabandcountermandcountry

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