[moun.te.bank] n [It montimbanco, fr. montare to mount (fr.--assumed--VL) + in in, on (fr. L) + banco, banca bench--more at bank] (1577) 1: a person who sells quack medicines from a platform
2: a boastful unscrupulous pretender: charlatan -- moun.te.bank.ery n
[2]mountebank vt (1607) obs: to beguile or transform by trickery "I'll ~ their loves --Shak." ~ vi: to play the mountebank