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barrator

American  
[bar-uh-ter] / ˈbær ə tər /
Also barrater,

noun

Law.
  1. a person who commits barratry.


barrator British  
/ ˈbærətə /

noun

  1. a person guilty of barratry

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of barrator

1350–1400; Middle English barettour brawler, fighter < Anglo-French barretor, barator, Old French barateor, equivalent to barat ( er ) to make a disturbance, baret ( er ) to trick, cheat (< Vulgar Latin *prattāre < Greek prā́ttein to do, perform, manage; see practical) + -eor -ator

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The great barrator made no hypocritical pretence of desiring peace.

From The Drama Of Three Hundred & Sixty-Five Days Scenes In The Great War by Caine, Hall, Sir

Barratry, Common, in law, the stirring up of lawsuits and quarrels between other persons, the party guilty of this offence being indictable as a common barrator or barretor.

From The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 3 Atrebates to Bedlis by Various

And, when the barrator had disappeared, he turned his talons on his fellow, and was clutched with him above the ditch.

From Dante: "The Central Man of All the World" A Course of Lectures Delivered Before the Student Body of the New York State College for Teachers, Albany, 1919, 1920 by Slattery, John T. (John Theodore)

Money he took, and let them smoothly off, so he says; and in other offices besides he was no little barrator, but sovereign.

From Divine Comedy, Norton's Translation, Hell by Norton, Charles Eliot

And when the barrator had disappeared,   He turned his talons upon his companion,   And grappled with him right above the moat.

From Divine Comedy, Longfellow's Translation, Complete by Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth