buffoon

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bəˈfuːn/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French bouffon,^[2][3][4][5] from Italian buffone (“jester”),^[2][3][4][5] from buffa “jest”,^[2][4][5] from buffare “to puff out the cheeks”, a comic gesture,^[4][5][2] of imitative origin.^[2][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A kind of pantomime dance (1549, in Scots);^[6][4][5] then, from 1585, a professional comic fool or jester.^[6][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The sense moved from the professional clown to anyone who indulges in low jests (1598),^[6][5] and the word took on a note of contempt.^[6] Modern use stresses either the clownishness or the stupidity: a ludicrous figure, or a coarse, bumbling fool.^[2][3][1]

Timeline

• 1549 – a pantomime dance.^[6][4]
• 1585 – a professional jester or clown.^[6][3][4]
• 1598 – a low jester, a wag (contemptuous).^[6]
• 1621 – buffoonery.^[4]
• 1638 – verb, to ridicule.^[6]
• 1672 – verb, to play the buffoon.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A clown or jester; someone who amuses others with tricks and jokes.
2. Someone given to coarse or undignified joking.
3. A ludicrous, bumbling or stupid person.

Word family

• buffoonery
• buffoonish

Related words

• bouffant
• buffa

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press