Quacksalver

c 1570, from Dutch kwakzalver ("hawker of salve"), from Middle Dutch quacken ("to brag, boast; to croak")

Full definition of quacksalver

(plural quacksalvers)

(archaic) One falsely claiming to possess medical or other skills, especially one who dispenses potions, ointments, etc. supposedly having curative powers.

1822, Sir Walter Scott, Peveril of the Peak, ch. 38:"Your Grace does not mean Dr. Wilderhead's powder of projection?""Pshaw! he is a quacksalver, and mountebank, and beggar."
1910, Jeffrey Farnol, The Broad Highway, ch 34:"I come before you, ladies and gentlemen, . . . to introduce to you what I call my Elixir Anthropos . . . .". . . He listened intently to the quack-salver's address, and from time to time his eyes would twinkle and his lips curve in an ironic smile.
1927, "Town Criers," New York Times, 2 Oct., p. E8:One is reminded of a familiar figure of medieval fairs, who survived long in this country England, and perhaps still survives in remote districtsâ€”the quacksalver who hawks his infallible remedies from a wagon.