See Also: mountebank(medicine)
mountebank(1)(dictionary)
mountebank(2)(dictionary)
mountebank(dictionary)

mountebank(1) (iou)



mountebank noun & adjective. L16.
[Italian montambanco, montimbanco, from monta in banco mount (imper.) on a bench: see BANK noun2.]
A. noun.
An itinerant quack, esp. a vendor of medicines, appealing to an audience from a raised platform and using stories, juggling, etc., and often the assistance of a professional clown or fool. obsolete exc. Hist. and as passing into sense 2. L16.
A false pretender to skill or knowledge, a charlatan; a person incurring contempt or ridicule through efforts to acquire something, esp. social distinction and glamour. L16.
= MOUNTEBANKERY. M17-E18.
= BATELEUR. Also mountebank eagle. L19.
b. attrib. or as adjective. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a mountebank. E17.
Gladstone Theatrical, not to say charlatan and mountebank, politics.
mountebankism noun (rare) mountebankery M17.