Mountebank Definition

mountə-băngk

mountebanks

noun

mountebanks

A person who mounted a bench, or platform, in a public place and sold quack medicines, usually attracting an audience by tricks, stories, etc.

Webster's New World

Any charlatan, or quack.

Webster's New World

There is nothing so impossible in Nature but mountebanks will undertake; nothing so incredible but they will affirm. - John Bull.

Wiktionary

One who sells by deception; a con artist; a charlatan.

Wiktionary

Synonyms:

verb

mountebanks

To act as a mountebank.

Webster's New World

To cheat by boasting and false pretenses.

Chide me no more. I'll mountebank their loves,Cog their hearts from them, and come home beloved - Coriolanus, Wm. Shakespeare.

Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Mountebank

Singular:

mountebank

Plural:

Italian montambanco from the phrase monta im banco one gets up onto the bench monta one gets up third person sing. present tense of montare to get up (from Vulgar Latin montāre mount¹) in on, onto (from Latin in–²) banco bench (variant of banca) (from Old Italian bench, table) (from Old High German bank)

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
From Italian montambanco (“quack who mounts a bench to hawk his wares") contracted from Italian monta-in-banco (“mount on bench").

From Wiktionary

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