E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Liar (The).
Al Aswad, who set himself up as a prophet against Mahomet. He was called the Weathercock because he changed his creed so often, the Impostor, and the Liar.
1
Moseilma, another contemporary, who affirmed that the “belly is the seat of the soul.” He wrote to Mahomet, and began his letter: “From Moseilma, prophet of Allah, to Mahomet, prophet of Allah,” and received for answer a letter beginning thus: “From Mahomet the prophet of God, to Moseilma the Liar.” (Anglo-Saxon, leg-an, to tell a falsehood; but to be recumbent is lieg-an or lig-an.)
2
Prince of Liars. Ferdinand Mendez Pinto, a Portuguese traveller, whose narrative is so much after Munchausen’s style, that Cervantes dubbed him “Prince of Liars.” The Tatler called him a man “of infinite adventure and unbounded imagination.”
g-an, to tell a falsehood; but to be recumbent is lieg-an or lig-an.)
