zany

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈzeɪni/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French zani,^[2][3][4][5] from Italian zanni (“a zany, clown”),^[3][6][5] originally the name Zanni, the Venetian dialect form of Italian Gianni, a pet form of Italian Giovanni (“John”).^{[4][2][3][6][5]} Zanni was a servant character who played the clown in the commedia dell'arte.^[4][5][2] Etymonline therefore calls the word a cognate of English Jack.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A comic performer who attended a clown, acrobat or mountebank and clumsily imitated his master's tricks.^[7][6] The OED, Merriam-Webster and Barnhart date it to 1588, Etymonline to the 1580s and Random House to 1560–70.^{[7][6][2][3][5]}

Semantic evolution

From the stage figure, the word spread to an attendant or hanger-on (1601), a poor imitator (1606) and someone who plays the fool for others' amusement (1606).^[7][3] The adjective followed in the early 17th century, first “clownishly imitative”, then “comically idiotic, absurd”;^[3][7] the OED and Barnhart date it to 1616, Merriam-Webster to 1609.^[7][2][6] The sense “fool, simpleton” survived in dialect.^[7]

Timeline

• 1588 – a comic performer who clumsily mimics a clown or mountebank.^[7][6][2]
• 1601 – an attendant, follower or hanger-on.^[7]
• 1602 – verb, “to mimic clumsily”.^[7]
• 1606 – a poor imitator; someone who acts the buffoon.^[7]
• 1616 – adjective, “comically idiotic, crazily ridiculous”.^[7][2]
• a1784 – a fool or simpleton.^[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Ludicrously or wildly comical; clownish.
2. Comical because strange or incongruous; bizarre.

Noun

1. Someone who acts the clown or fool to amuse others.
2. A comically wild or eccentric person.
3. In old comedies, a secondary clown who clumsily mimics the principal clown or his master.
4. A slavish follower.

Word family

• zanily
• zaniness
• zanyish

Related words

• jack

References

1. [1] Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
3. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. [1] [2] [3] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
6. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press