mountebank

== English == === Etymology === From archaic Italian montambanco (“quack who mounts a bench to hawk his wares”), contracted from monta-in-banco (“mount on bench”). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈmaʊntəˌbæŋk/ === Noun === mountebank (plural mountebanks) One who sells dubious medicines. One who sells by deception; a con artist. Synonyms: charlatan, conman, fake, quack; see also Thesaurus:confidence trickster 1951, Isaac Asimov, Foundation (1974 Panther Books Ltd publication), part III: “The Mayors”, chapter 7, page 106, ¶ 13 “Are you allowing yourselves to be fooled by this mountebank, this harlequin? Do you cringe before a religion compounded of clouds and moonbeams? This man is an imposter and the Galactic Spirit he speaks of a fraud of the imagination devised to——” Any boastful, false pretender. (obsolete) An acrobat. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== saltimbanco ==== Translations ==== ==== See also ==== patent medicine snake oil === Verb === mountebank (third-person singular simple present mountebanks, present participle mountebanking, simple past and past participle mountebanked) (intransitive) To act as a mountebank. (transitive) To cheat by boasting and false pretenses. === References ===