cogniac

English

Etymology

From Cogniac Street, a location in Dunham, Quebec close to the United States-Canada border from which a significant amount of counterfeiting took place in the 18th century and early 19th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɒnjæk/
• Homophones: cognac, konjac

Noun

cogniac (uncountable)

1. (chiefly US, dated, slang) Counterfeit money.
   • 1823, William A. Coffey, Inside Out, Or, An Interior View of the New-York State Prison: Together with Biographical Sketches of the Lives of Several of the Convicts‎^[1], page 108:

     [T]here are sixteen wholesale dealers [...] to whom they sell, at a regular per centage, their imported Cogniac; [...]

   • 1838, Ann Baker Carson, The Memoirs of the Celebrated and Beautiful Mrs. Ann Carson‎^[2], page 138:

     [N]ext morning the conspirators met at the yellow cottage, where having settled the business of the day, by giving out the cogniac, and receiving her portion of the good money, the honorable corps adjourned to attend to matters of more importance [...].

   • 1852, “The Counterfeitr's [sic] Reward”, in Jeffersonian Republican‎^[3], retrieved 2023-05-30, page 1:

     [T]he parties going there to buy the "stuff" when a new and good thing was out, at the rate of 8, 10, 15, or 20 dollars good money, for 100 cogniac, according to the quality.