charlatan
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See also: charlatán
English
Etymology
From Middle French charlatan, from Old Italian ciarlatano (“quack”), a blend of ciarlatore (“chatterer”) + cerretano (“hawker, quack”, literally “native of Cerreto”) (Cerreto di Spoleto being a village in Umbria, known for its quacks).
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈʃɑɹlətən/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈʃɑːlətən/
Audio (Canada): (file) - Hyphenation: char‧la‧tan
Noun
charlatan (plural charlatans)
- (obsolete) A mountebank, someone who addresses crowds in the street; (especially), an itinerant seller of medicines or drugs.
- 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle , volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., , →OCLC:
- The poor foreigner, more dead than alive, answered that he was an Italian charlatan, who had practised with some reputation in Padua […] .
- A malicious trickster; a fake person, especially one who deceives for personal profit.
- Synonyms: trickster, swindler, scammer; see also Thesaurus:deceiver
- 2018 June, Ian Murray, The Independent:
- That this disgraceful charlatan holds one of the great offices of state in this country should be a source of constant shame and embarrassment to the Prime Minister.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
malicious trickster
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French
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian ciarlatano. Pejorative meaning first recorded 1668.
Pronunciation
Noun
charlatan m (plural charlatans, feminine charlatane)
- (dated) a streetseller of medicines
- a charlatan (trickster)
- a quack
Descendants
Further reading
- “charlatan”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.
Middle French
Noun
charlatan m (plural charlatans)
Descendants
Swedish
Etymology
From French charlatan. Cognate of English charlatan, German Scharlatan.
Noun
charlatan c
Declension
Declension of charlatan