Meaning

noun traffic in ecclesiastical offices or preferments

noun the crime of a judge whose judgment is influenced by bribery

noun (maritime law) a fraudulent breach of duty by the master of a ship that injures the owner of the ship or its cargo; includes every breach of trust such as stealing or sinking or deserting the ship or

originEarly 15th century, in sense “sale of offices”, from Old French baraterie (“deceit, trickery”), from barat (“fraud, deceit, trickery”), of unknown origin, perhaps Celtic. In marine sense of “unlawful acts causing loss to owner”, 1620s.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0