forgery

Definition of forgery

Etymology

Recorded since recorded 1574; from the verb to forge, from Middle English, via Anglo-Norman forger from Old French forgier, from Latin fabricari "to frame, construct, fabricate", itself from fabrica 'workshop; construction', from faber 'workman, smith'

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˈf�"ː.d�'ər.ɪ/, SAMPA: /"fO:.dZ@r.I/
• (US) IPA: /ˈf�"ːr.d�'ər.ɪ/, SAMPA: /"fO:r.dZ@r.I/
• Audio (US) ^[?]

Noun

forgery (plural forgeries)

1. The act of forging, fabricating, or producing falsely; especially the crime of fraudulently making or altering a writing or signature purporting to be made by another, the false making or material alteration of or addition to a written instrument for the purpose of deceit and fraud; as, the forgery of a bond.
2. That which is forged, fabricated, falsely devised or counterfeited.
3. (archaic) An invention, creation

Synonyms

• counterfeit

Further reading

Forgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents with the intent to deceive. Copies, studio replicas, and reproductions are not considered forgeries, though they may later become forgeries through knowing and willful misrepresentations. Forging money or currency is more often called counterfeiting. But consumer goods may also be counterfeits if they are not manufactured or produced by the designated manufacture or producer given on the label or flagged by the trademark symbol. When the object forged is a record or document it is often called a false document.

This usage of "forgery" does not derive from metalwork done at a forge, but it has a parallel history. A sense of "to counterfeit" is already in the Anglo-French verb forger, meaning "falsify."

A forgery is essentially concerned with a produced or altered object. Where the prime concern of a forgery is less focused on the object itself - what it is worth or what it "proves" - than on a tacit statement of criticism that is revealed by the reactions the object provokes in others, then the larger process is a hoax. In a hoax, a rumor or a genuine object planted in a concocted situation, may substitute for a forged physical object.

The similar crime of fraud is the crime of deceiving another, including through the use of objects obtained through forgery. Forgery is one of the techniques of fraud, including identity theft. Forgery is one of the threats addressed by security engineering.

In the 16th century imitators of Albrecht Dürer's style of printmaking improved the market for their own prints by signing them "AD", making them forgeries. In the 20th century the art market made forgeries highly profitable. There are widespread forgeries of especially valued artists, such as drawings originally by Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, and Henri Matisse.

A special case of double forgery is the forging of Vermeer's paintings by Han van Meegeren, and in its turn the forging of Van Meegeren's work by his son Jacques van Meegeren.