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Quacksalver

//ˈkwæksælvə// noun

Definitions

Noun

1
One falsely claiming to possess medical or other skills, especially one who dispenses potions, ointments, etc., supposedly having curative powers; a quack. archaic
"[F]ree me from thoſe outward encumbrances of cares that over-whelme mee, and let this paraliticke quackſalver fill ten thouſand tunnes with ſcelerata ſinapis, ſhrewiſh ſnappiſh muſtard, as Plautus calls it, […]"

Etymology

From Dutch quacksalver (“a hawker of salve”) (now spelt kwakzalver), derived from Middle Dutch quacsalven (noun or verb), from kwaken (“to boast, to brag; to croak”) + salve (“ointment, salve”) (modern Dutch zalf) + -er (agent noun suffix).

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