A person who makes illegal copies of documents, money, or signatures to commit fraud; also, a blacksmith who works with metal in a forge.
From the verb 'forge' which comes from Old French 'forge' (a smithy) derived from Latin 'fabrica' meaning workshop. The word shifted from the legitimate smithing meaning to the criminal meaning around the 1600s.
A 'forger' can be either someone hammering metal in a forge or someone creating fake documents—the crime definition came from the legitimate craft! It's like how 'shady' came from shadows but now just means dishonest.
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