forgery
n. C / Un. the crime of making a fake copy of something, like a document or a painting, to trick people. It can also refer to the fake object itself.
n. the action of producing a fraudulent copy or imitation of a document, signature, banknote, or work of art. Refers both to the criminal act and the resulting counterfeit item.
The expert discovered that the painting was a forgery.
He was arrested for forgery after he tried to cash a check with a fake signature.
Advanced forensic techniques, such as carbon dating and chemical analysis of pigments, are often required to distinguish a masterfully executed forgery from an authentic Renaissance masterpiece.
Recorded since 1574; from forge + -ery, from Middle English forgen, via Anglo-Norman forger, from Old French forgier, from Latin fabricārī (“to frame, construct, fabricate”), itself from fabrica (“workshop; construction”), from faber (“workman, smith”). (fake): Compare typologically Russian кова́рный (kovárnyj), кова́рство (kovárstvo), ко́зни (kózni) (akin to кова́ть (kovátʹ), ку́зница (kúznica)).
Uncountable when referring to the crime or activity; countable when referring to a specific fake object.