huckster

Etymology

Comes from Middle English hukster, probably of Low German or Dutch origin: from Middle Low German höken (“to peddle”) or Middle Dutch hokester, itself from hoeken (“to peddle, bend, bear on the back”). All these trace to Proto-Germanic *huk-, probably related to *hūkan- (“to squat”), from *hūkkan-, back-formed from the iterative *huk(k)ōn-, from Proto-Indo-European *kuk-néh₂, from *kewk- (“to curve, bend”), which is also the source of English high. Compare hawkster. On the surface it is huck + -ster.