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Added 9 October 2026

charlatan

/ˈʃɑɹlətən/ noun

In Latin: magus Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about charlatan at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A mountebank, someone who addresses crowds in the street; , an itinerant seller of medicines or drugs.
A malicious trickster; a fake person, especially one who deceives for personal profit.

Origin

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).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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