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fake¹

(fāk)

adj.

Having a false or misleading appearance; fraudulent.

1. One that is not authentic or genuine; a sham.

2. Sports A brief feint or aborted change of direction intended to mislead one's opponent or the opposing team.

v. faked, fak·ing, fakes

v.tr.

1. To contrive and present as genuine; counterfeit: fake a signature.

2. To simulate; feign: faked his death so his wife would collect insurance money.

3. Music To improvise (a passage).

4. Sports To deceive (an opponent) with a fake. Often used with out.

v.intr.

1. To engage in feigning, simulation, or other deceptive activity.

2. Sports To perform a fake.

[From earlier slang, to do, rob, tamper with, from earlier feak, to beat and feague, to beat, set moving, cause (a horse) to hold its tail high by artificial means, fake (as in feager, one using false documents), perhaps from German fegen, to sweep, move briskly, torment, or Dutch vegen, to sweep.]

faker n.

faker·y (fākə-rē) n.

fake²

(fāk)

One loop or winding of a coiled rope or cable.

tr.v. faked, fak·ing, fakes

To coil (a rope or cable).

[Middle English faken, to coil a rope.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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