# charlatan

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈʃɑɹlətən/ · frequency rank #45,264

## Definitions
1. A mountebank, someone who addresses crowds in the street; (especially), an itinerant seller of medicines or drugs.
2. A malicious trickster; a fake person, especially one who deceives for personal profit.

## Etymology
From Middle French charlatan, from Old Italian ciarlatano (“quack”), a blend of ciarlatore (“chatterer”) + cerretano (“hawker, quack”, literally “native of Cerreto”) (Cerreto di Spoleto being a village in Umbria, known for its quacks).

## Easily confused with
- **Charlton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/charlatan-vs-charlton)

## Common misspellings (14)
`cahrlatan`, `ccharlatan`, `chalratan`, `charaltan`, `charlaatn`, `charlatann`, `charlatna`, `charlattan`, `charllatan`, `charltaan`, `charrlatan`, `chharlatan`, `chralatan`, `hcarlatan`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/charlatan