quack English · revision 2411

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kwæk/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ There are two words.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995) The duck's cry is imitative,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) from Middle English ''queken'' and the interjection ''quek''.^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995) The ''quack'' meaning a charlatan is short for [[quacksalver]] (1570s),^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) [[bor|nl|quacksalver|t=hawker of salve]],^(Etymonline) from Middle Dutch ''quacken'' “to boast, croak” and ''salf'' “salve”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ For the charlatan sense, the verb “to play the quack, talk pretentiously” (1628), and the noun, a pretender to medical skill (1638).^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A quacksalver was literally someone who “croaked”, or boasted loudly, about his ointments.^(Etymonline) Shortened to ''quack'', the word came to mean any ignorant pretender to medical or other skill.^(OED 1989)^(AHD)^(RHWU) The adjective, as in ''quack medicine'', dates from 1653^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) and ''quackery'' from 1709–1711.^(Barnhart 1995) From 1919 Australian and New Zealand slang used ''quack'' for any doctor, without the implication of fraud.^(OED 1989) The duck word is older: Middle English ''queken'' is recorded before 1333, and the modern verb from 1617.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1333 – ''queken'', of a duck, to quack.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1617 – verb, of a duck, to quack.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1628 – verb, to talk pretentiously, like a quack.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1638 – noun, a charlatan.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1653 – adjective, as in ''quack medicine''.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1839 – noun, the cry of a duck.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1919 – slang, any doctor (Australian and New Zealand).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An untrained person who pretends to be a doctor.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A charlatan who claims skill or knowledge he or she does not have.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The cry of a duck.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(slang)'' Any doctor.^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Relating to or used by quacks, as in ''quack remedies''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make the cry of a duck.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To act as a quack or charlatan.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[quackery]]

+ * [[quackish]]

+ * [[quackishly]]

+ * [[quackishness]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[quacksalver]]

+ * [[charlatan]]

+ * [[mountebank]]

+ * [[salve]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}