buffoon
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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
- A clown or jester; someone who amuses others with tricks and jokes.
- Someone given to coarse or undignified joking.
- A ludicrous, bumbling or stupid person.
Word family
- buffoonery
- buffoonish
Related words
- bouffant
- buffa
References
- ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
- ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
- ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ 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