Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Charlatan

Charlatan , noun

[French charlatan, from Italian ciarlatano, from ciarlare to chartter, prate; of imitative origin; compare Italian zirlare to whistle like a thrush.]

One who prates much in his own favor, and makes unwarrantable pretensions; a quack; an impostor; an empiric; a mountebank.