Definitions

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete A doer or actor; particularly, an evil doer; a scoundrel.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun archaic A charlatan or imposter, especially one pretending to be ill, or to tell fortunes.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Anglo-Norman faitour (cognate with Old French faitor ‘doer, maker’), from Latin factorem, from facere ("do, make").

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Examples

  • I come to her she will not believe me, but put me in duresse as I were a faitour.

    The Golden Legend, vol. 7 1230-1298 1900

  • The Fleming's lance was, of course, in its rest, and woe betide the faitour whose lot it was to encounter its thrust; the first fell, incapable of further combat, and another of the felons encountered the same fate with little more resistance.

    Waverley Novels — Volume 12 Walter Scott 1801

  • “And yonder stands the faitour, rejoicing at the mischief he has done, and triumphing in your overthrow, like the king in the romance, who played upon the fiddle whilst a city was burning.

    The Fair Maid of Perth 2008

  • The Fleming’s lance was, of course, in its rest, and woe betide the faitour whose lot it was to encounter its thrust; the first fell, incapable of further combat, and another of the felons encountered the same fate with little more resistance.

    Castle Dangerous 2008

  • 4 By this false faitour, who unworthy wears faitour > impostor, cheat wears > bears, carries

    The Faerie Queene — Volume 01 Edmund Spenser

  • 7 Thus all my wandering faitour [5] thinking strayed,

    Specimens with Memoirs of the Less-known British Poets, Complete George Gilfillan 1845

  • 7 Thus all my wandering faitour [5] thinking strayed,

    Specimens with Memoirs of the Less-known British Poets, Volume 3 George Gilfillan 1845

  • “Be patient, Sir Geoffrey,” said the Countess, who now discerned the cause of her kinswoman’s apprehension; “and be assured I did not need your chivalry to defend me against this discourteous faitour, as Morte d’Arthur would have called him.

    Peveril of the Peak 1822

  • "Be patient, Sir Geoffrey," said the Countess, who now discerned the cause of her kinswoman's apprehension; "and be assured I did not need your chivalry to defend me against this discourteous faitour, as

    Peveril of the Peak Walter Scott 1801

  • "And yonder stands the faitour, rejoicing at the mischief he has done, and triumphing in your overthrow, like the king in the romance, who played upon the fiddle whilst a city was burning.

    The Fair Maid of Perth St. Valentine's Day Walter Scott 1801

Comments

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  • Archaic

    An impostor; a deceiver

    December 17, 2007