Where does “faux Cyrillic” come from?

faux Cyrillic (English) comes from English faux, from French faux, from Middle French faux, from Middle French faulx, from Old French fauz, from Latin falx, from Proto-Indo-European dʰelg- — a cutting tool; to stick; needle, pin.

faux Cyrillic (English): The usage of Cyrillic letters in place of visually similar (though not necessarily phonetically similar) Roman letters in languages which use the Roman alphabet, to create a more 'Russian' feel for a text

Definitions

  1. The usage of Cyrillic letters in place of visually similar (though not necessarily phonetically similar) Roman letters in languages which use the Roman alphabet, to create a more 'Russian' feel for a text

Ancestry of “faux Cyrillic”, step by step

faux Cyrillic traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English faux

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishfauxfake or artificial
2Frenchfauxfalse; untrue; false; not real; badly;...
3Middle FrenchfauxAlternative form of faulx
4Middle Frenchfaulxfalse; untrue; false; pretentious; scythe
5Old Frenchfauzscythe
6Latinfalxsickle, scythe; a hook used to pull down walls
7Proto-Indo-Europeandʰelg-a cutting tool; to stick; needle, pin

via English Cyrillic

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishCyrillicDenoting an alphabet devised for writing the Old...
2EnglishCyrilbest known for a ninth century missionary to the Slavs
3LatinCȳrillus
4Ancient GreekΚύριλλος
5Ancient Greekκῡ́ριοςmain; major; primary; principal
Every word from Proto-Indo-European dʰelg-