supercherie

English

Alternative forms

• superchery
• superchiery

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French supercherie, itself borrowed from Italian soperchieria.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /suːˌpəːʃəˈɹiː/

Noun

supercherie (countable and uncountable, plural supercheries)

1. (obsolete) Foul play; an attack made by deceit. [16th–17th c.]
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 27, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

     it is a Superchiery, […] as being wel armed, to charge a man who hath but a piece of a sword, or being sound and strong, to set upon a man sore hurt.

2. (now chiefly in French contexts) Deception, deceit; an instance of fraud. [from 17th c.]
   • 1863, Henry Rogers, Critique on M. Renan's Vie de Jésus:

     We […] should certainly deny to any teacher of morals, in any age, who resorted to such ‘supercherie’ and charlatanism, any very high place among the instructors and benefactors of mankind.

   • 2005 June 23, Timothy Garton Ash, The Guardian:

     According to France's foreign minister, the British foreign secretary is guilty of perpetrating a supercherie.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian soperchieria, obsolete form of soverchieria (“abuse; bullying”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sy.pɛʁ.ʃə.ʁi/

Noun

supercherie f (plural supercheries)

1. deception

Further reading

• “supercherie”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.