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charlatan
6 dictionary results for: charlatan
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
char·la·tan       [shahr-luh-tn] Pronunciation Key
–noun
a person who pretends to more knowledge or skill than he or she possesses; quack.

[Origin: 1595–1605; < MF < It ciarlatano, equiv. to ciarla(tore) chatterer (deriv. of ciarlare to chatter; from imit. root) + (cerre)tano hawker, quack, lit., native of Cerreto, a village in Umbria, known for its quacks]

char·la·tan·ic       [shahr-luh-tan-ik] Pronunciation Key, char·la·tan·i·cal, char·la·tan·ish, char·la·tan·is·tic, adjective
char·la·tan·i·cal·ly, adverb

impostor, mountebank, fraud, fake, phony.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
char·la·tan       (shär'lə-tən)  Pronunciation Key 
n.   A person who makes elaborate, fraudulent, and often voluble claims to skill or knowledge; a quack or fraud.


[French, from Italian ciarlatano, probably alteration (influenced by ciarlare, to prattle) of cerretano, inhabitant of Cerreto, a city of Italy once famous for its quacks.]

char'la·tan'ic (-tān'ĭk), char'la·tan'i·cal adj., char'la·tan·ism, char'la·tan·ry n.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
charlatan 
1611, from It. ciarlatano "a quack," from ciarlare "to prate, babble," from ciarla "chat, prattle," perhaps imitative of ducks' quacking.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
charlatan

noun
a flamboyant deceiver; one who attracts customers with tricks or jokes [syn: mountebank

American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

charlatan char·la·tan (shär'lə-tən)
n.
A person fraudulently claiming knowledge and skills not possessed.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Charlatan

Char"la*tan\, n. [F. charlatan, fr. It. ciarlatano, fr. ciarlare to chartter, prate; of imitative origin; cf. It. zirlare to whistle like a thrush.] One who prates much in his own favor, and makes unwarrantable pretensions; a quack; an impostor; an empiric; a mountebank.

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