Charlatan
CHARLATAN (Ital. ciarlatano, from ciarlare, to chatter), originally one who "patters" to a crowd to sell his wares, like a "cheap-jack" or "quack" doctor - "quack" being similarly derived from the noise made by a duck; so an impostor who pretends to have some special skill or knowledge.
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
