charlatan

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: charlatán

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology[edit]

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[edit]

Noun[edit]

charlatan (plural charlatans)

  1. (obsolete) A mountebank, someone who addresses crowds in the street; (especially), an itinerant seller of medicines or drugs.
  2. A malicious trickster; a fake person, especially one who deceives for personal profit.
    Synonyms: trickster, swindler; 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.

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Italian ciarlatano. Pejorative meaning first recorded 1668.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

charlatan m (plural charlatans, feminine charlatane)

  1. (dated) a streetseller of medicines
  2. a charlatan (trickster)
  3. a quack

Descendants[edit]

  • Turkish: şarlatan
  • Romanian: șarlatan

Further reading[edit]

Middle French[edit]

Noun[edit]

charlatan m (plural charlatans)

  1. a street-seller of medicines

Descendants[edit]

Swedish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From French charlatan. Cognate of English charlatan, German Scharlatan.

Noun[edit]

charlatan c

  1. fraudster, deceiver

Declension[edit]

Declension of charlatan 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative charlatan charlatanen charlataner charlatanerna
Genitive charlatans charlatanens charlataners charlatanernas

Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]