barrator
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English baratour, from Old French barateor (“deceiver”), from Old French barater, bareter (“to deceive, cheat, barter”). Compare barter (intransitive verb).
Pronunciation
Noun
barrator (plural barrators)
- One who is guilty of barratry, vexing others with frequent and often groundless lawsuits; a brangler and pettifogger.
- 1860, Matthew Bacon, A New Abridgement of the Law, volume 2, page 75:
- But by Hawk. P. C. bk. 1, c. 21, if such suits are merely groundless, and brought only with a design to oppress the defendants, such a man may as properly be called a barrator as if he had stirred up others to bring them.
- One who abuses their office by dealing fraudulently.
- (archaic) A quarrelsome person, one who fights, a bully.
Translations
who vexes others with frequent and needless lawsuits
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References
- Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
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- English terms derived from Old French
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