different between counterfeit vs misbegotten

English

Etymology

Anglo-Norman countrefait, from Old French contrefait.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ka?n.t??f?t/
• Rhymes: -?t

Adjective

counterfeit (not comparable)

1. False, especially of money; intended to deceive or carry appearance of being genuine.

2. Inauthentic.

3. Assuming the appearance of something; deceitful; hypocritical.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:fake

Translations

Noun

counterfeit (plural counterfeits)

1. A non-genuine article; a fake.
   • c.1597 William Shakespeare, Henry IV part I, Act II, scene 4:

   • 1971, Peter Brown, The World of Late Antiquity: AD 150—750, Thames & Hudson LTD (2013 reprint), ?ISBN, page 53.

2. One who counterfeits; a counterfeiter.
3. (obsolete) That which resembles another thing; a likeness; a portrait; a counterpart.
   • 1590 Edmund Spenser, Faerie Queene Book III, canto VIII:

4. (obsolete) An impostor; a cheat.
   • c.1597, William Shakespeare, Henry IV part I, Act V, scene 4

Translations

Verb

counterfeit (third-person singular simple present counterfeits, present participle counterfeiting, simple past and past participle counterfeited)

1. (transitive) To falsely produce what appears to be official or valid; to produce a forged copy of.

2. (transitive, obsolete) To produce a faithful copy of.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To feign; to mimic.
   • 1770, Oliver Goldsmith, The Village Schoolmaster

4. (transitive, poker, usually "be counterfeited") Of a turn or river card, to invalidate a player's hand by making a better hand on the board.

Derived terms

• uncounterfeited

Translations

English

Etymology

mis- +? begotten

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?m?sb????tn?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?m?sb????tn?/

Adjective

misbegotten (comparative more misbegotten, superlative most misbegotten)

1. (of a person) Born out of wedlock; illegitimate.
2. (by extension, figuratively) Ill-conceived.
   • 2012 March 22nd, Scott Tobias, “Cabin Boy” in The A.V. Club:

     Many of the strangest, most misbegotten studio films of the last 20 years have been comedies, perhaps because middle-aged executives have no comprehension of what the younger generation finds funny.

3. (by extension) Bad; worthless.

Translations

Verb

misbegotten

1. past participle of misbeget

Noun

misbegotten (plural misbegotten)

1. (obsolete, sometimes derogatory) One born illegitimately (i.e., out of wedlock); a bastard.
2. (loosely, in the plural) A person born into infelicitous circumstances.
   • 1973, Philippa Foot, “Nietzsche: The Revaluation of Values” in Nietzsche: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Robert C. Solomon, Garden City, New York: Anchor Books, ?ISBN, page 161:

     By preserving the incapable and “misbegotten”, and by insisting that they be the object of compassionate attention, it would cause even the strong to be infected with gloom and nihilism.

Translations

See also

References

• OED (3rd ed., June 2002), “misbegotten, n. and adj.”