Char'latan, a mountebank, quack-doctor, or empiric, and hence any one who makes loud pretensions to knowledge or skill that he does not possess. The word was introduced in the 16th century from the Italian ciarlatano, from ciarlare, 'to babble.'
Char'latan
Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 3: Catarrh to Dion, p. 114
Source scan(s): p. 0123