Where does “quacksalver” come from?
quacksalver (English) comes from Dutch quacksalver, from Middle Dutch quacsalven, from Middle Dutch salve, from Old Dutch salva, from Proto-West Germanic salbu, from Proto-Germanic salbō, from Proto-Indo-European solp-éh₂, from Proto-Indo-European selp- — fat, oil.
quacksalver (English): One falsely claiming to possess medical or other...
Definitions
- One falsely claiming to possess medical or other...
Ancestry of “quacksalver”, step by step