One who commits barratry; a ship's captain or sailor who engages in fraudulent or criminal conduct at sea.
From barrate (to commit barratry) plus -er agent suffix. Barrate itself comes from Old French barat meaning 'fraud' or 'deception', likely related to bar meaning 'quarrel' or 'disturbance'.
Medieval maritime law was so paranoid about barrators (ship captains who'd sabotage their own vessels for insurance money) that it became one of the oldest forms of corporate fraud legislation!
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