Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Quack
(1,430 words)

1. Concept and scope

The term “quack,” short for “quacksalver” (Early New Dutch quacksalver, German Quacksalber, composed of quacken, “to cry,” “to quack [like a duck],” and salver/Salber, from the OHG salbari, “physician,” or Latin salvare, “to heal”; French charlatan, Italian ciarlatano), generally referred to someone pretending to be a healer and practicing without authority, or sometimes to certified heal…

Cite this page
Eckart, Wolfgang Uwe, “Quack”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 09 June 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_031113>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20210107



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