saltimbanco
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian saltimbanco. Used thus in English because of the association with street performers, seen by the settled population in English-speaking culture as not to be trusted. A more usual and more accurate English word, derived from similar sources, is mountebank.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /sæltɪmˈbæŋkəʊ/
Noun
saltimbanco (plural saltimbancos)
- A quack doctor, a fraud.
- Synonyms: mountebank, quack
Related terms
- mountebank
Italian
Alternative forms
- saltambanco (uncommon)
Etymology
Univerbation of salta + in + banco, literally “leap (or somersault) on the bench”.[1] Compare Sicilian sautavancu.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /sal.timˈban.ko/
- Rhymes: -anko
- Hyphenation: sal‧tim‧bàn‧co
Noun
saltimbanco m (plural saltimbanchi, feminine saltimbanca)
- acrobat
- Synonyms: acrobata, funambolo, giocoliere
- (figuratively, derogatory) charlatan
- Synonyms: ciarlatano, (archaic) montambanco
Descendants
- → English: saltimbanco
- → French: saltimbanque
- → English: saltimbanque
- → Portuguese: saltimbanco
- → Spanish: saltimbanqui
References
- saltimbanco in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
Spanish
Noun
saltimbanco m (plural saltimbancos)
- Alternative form of saltimbanqui
Further reading
- “saltimbanco”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014