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Forfeit vs Counterfeit - What's the difference?

forfeit | counterfeit |

As nouns the difference between forfeit and counterfeit

is that forfeit is a penalty for or consequence of a misdemeanor while counterfeit is a non-genuine article; a fake.

As verbs the difference between forfeit and counterfeit

is that forfeit is to suffer the loss of something by wrongdoing or non-compliance while counterfeit is to falsely produce what appears to be official or valid; to produce a forged copy of.

As adjectives the difference between forfeit and counterfeit

is that forfeit is lost or alienated for an offense or crime; liable to penal seizure while counterfeit is false, especially of money; intended to deceive or carry appearance of being genuine.

forfeit

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A penalty for or consequence of a misdemeanor.
    • That he our deadly forfeit should release'' (John Milton, ''On the Morning of Christ's Nativity , 1629)
  • A thing forfeited; that which is taken from somebody in requital of a misdeed committed; that which is lost, or the right to which is alienated, by a crime, breach of contract, etc.
    • He who murders pays the forfeit of his own life.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Thy slanders I forgive; and therewithal / Remit thy other forfeits .
  • Something deposited and redeemable by a sportive fine as part of a game.
  • * Goldsmith
    • Country dances and forfeits shortened the rest of the day.
  • (obsolete, rare) Injury; wrong; mischief.
  • * Ld. Berners
    • to seek arms upon people and country that never did us any forfeit

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To suffer the loss of something by wrongdoing or non-compliance
    • He forfeited his last chance of an early release from jail by repeatedly attacking another inmate.
  • To lose a contest, game, match, or other form of competition by voluntary withdrawal, by failing to attend or participate, or by violation of the rules
    • Because only nine players were present, the football team was forced to forfeit the game.
  • To be guilty of a misdeed; to be criminal; to transgress.
  • To fail to keep an obligation.
  • * Shakespeare
    • I will have the heart of him if he forfeit .

    Usage notes

    * Very rarely, forfeit is used as the past tense form and past participle (i.e., the past tense forms and the present tense form are homographs).

    Synonyms

    * (lose a contest) capitulate, surrender * (voluntarily give up) forgo, withgo

    Derived terms

    * forfeits * nonforfeited * nonforfeiting * nonforfeiture

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Lost or alienated for an offense or crime; liable to penal seizure.
  • * Shakespeare
    • thy wealth being forfeit to the state
  • * Emerson
    • to tread the forfeit paradise
    English irregular verbs English verbs with base form identical to past participle English words not following the I before E except after C rule

    counterfeit

    English

    Adjective

    (-)
  • False, especially of money; intended to deceive or carry appearance of being genuine.
    • This counterfeit watch looks like the real thing, but it broke a week after I bought it.
  • Inauthentic.
    • counterfeit sympathy
  • Assuming the appearance of something; deceitful; hypocritical.
  • * Shakespeare
    • an arrant counterfeit rascal

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A non-genuine article; a fake.
  • *c.1597 William Shakespeare, Henry IV part I, Act II, scene 4:
    • Never call a true piece of gold a counterfeit .
  • * Macaulay
    • Some of these counterfeits are fabricated with such exquisite taste and skill, that it is the achievement of criticism to distinguish them from originals.
  • One who counterfeits; a counterfeiter.
  • (obsolete) That which resembles another thing; a likeness; a portrait; a counterpart.
  • * William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens
    • Thou drawest a counterfeit / Best in all Athens.
  • * 1590 Edmund Spenser, Faerie Queene Book III, canto VIII:
    • Even Nature's self envied the same, / And grudged to see the counterfeit should shame / The thing itself.
  • (obsolete) An impostor; a cheat.
  • * c.1597 William Shakespeare, Henry IV part I, Act V, scene 4
    • I fear thou art another counterfeit ; / And yet, in faith, thou bear'st thee like a king.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To falsely produce what appears to be official or valid; to produce a forged copy of.
    • to counterfeit the signature of another, coins, notes, etc.
  • (obsolete) To produce a faithful copy of.
  • *
  • (obsolete) To feign; to mimic.
    • to counterfeit the voice of another person
  • * Oliver Goldsmith, The Village Schoolmaster
    • Full well they laughed with counterfeited glee / At all his jokes, for many a joke had he.
  • Of a turn or river card, to invalidate a player's hand by making a better hand on the board.