Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Fake in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels fake as verb. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913verb
Fake

[Cf. Gael. faigh to get, acquire, reach, or OD. facken to catch or gripe.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordfake
Part of speechverb
Historical etymology[Cf. Gael. faigh to get, acquire, reach, or OD. facken to catch or gripe.]
Selected historical definitionTo cheat; to swindle; to steal; to rob.
Signed record IDwebster1913-fake-verb-6e3f00d55401
Source locatorCIDE.F, paragraph 582; Gutenberg eBook 663
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 663Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "fake" is labeled verb. Its etymology is recorded as: "[Cf. Gael. faigh to get, acquire, reach, or OD. facken to catch or gripe.]" The selected historical definition says: "To cheat; to swindle; to steal; to rob."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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