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charlatan - 6 dictionary results

char⋅la⋅tan

[shahr-luh-tn]
–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] , 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.
char·la·tan   (shär'lə-tən)   
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.

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.
Language Translation for : charlatan
Spanish: farsante, impostor,
German: der, *die Schwindler(in),
Japanese: インチキ

charlatan 
1611, from It. ciarlatano "a quack," from ciarlare "to prate, babble," from ciarla "chat, prattle," perhaps imitative of ducks' quacking.

Main Entry: char·la·tan
Pronunciation: 'shär-l&t-&n
Function: noun
: QUACK <charlatans killing their patients with empirical procedures>

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

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