faitour

Alternative forms

• faytor [14th-17th c.]
• fayter [15th-16th c.]

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman faitour (cognate with Old French faitor ‘doer, maker’), from Latin factor, factōrem, from facere (“do, make”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfeɪtə/

Noun

faitour (plural faitours)

1. (archaic) A charlatan or imposter, especially one pretending to be ill, or to tell fortunes.
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter x, in Le Morte Darthur, book II:

     Allas sayd kynge Lot I am ashamed / for by my defaute ther is many a worshipful man slayne / for and we had ben to gyders there hadde ben none hooste vnder the heuen that had ben abel for to haue matched with vs / This fayter with his prophecye hath mocked me

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queen, I.iv:

     Into new woes vnweeting I was cast, / By this false faytor […].

   • 1969, Robert Nye, Tales I Told My Mother:

     Quick, now, little faitour. What do you want to know about Gondal?

Noun

faitour m (oblique plural faitours, nominative singular faitours, nominative plural faitour)

1. a layabout (one who does nothing)

References

• faitour on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub