clown English · revision 15124

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=1563}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /klaʊn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is uncertain.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) It may be Scandinavian, compare [[is|klunni|t=clumsy, boorish fellow]], [[sv|kluns|t=hard knob, clumsy fellow]] and [[da|klunt|t=log, block]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) or Low German, compare [[frr|klönne|t=clumsy person]] and [[nl|kloen]].^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) The OED, as quoted by Etymonline, explains it as a word first meaning clod or lump that came to mean a clumsy boor.^(Etymonline) Ben Jonson's derivation (1633) from [[la|colōnus|t=farmer, colonist]], which Merriam-Webster still gives through [[frm|coulon]], is unlikely on phonetic grounds.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A countryman, rustic or peasant, also spelled cloyne: 1563.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense was soon applied to any rude or ill-mannered person:^(Cresswell 2021) a boor from 1565, and an uncouth man from 1583.^(OED 1989) By 1600 a clown was also the fool or jester of a stage play,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) and the comic entertainer of the circus developed from this.^(Cresswell 2021) The verb, to play the clown, is from about 1600;^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) theatre slang used it for playing a part farcically (1891), and ''clown around'' is from 1932.^(Etymonline) The fear of clowns has been given a name, coulrophobia, from a Greek word for a stilt-walker.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1563 – a rustic, peasant.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1583 – an uncouth man.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1600 – a fool or jester.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1600 – to clown (verb).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1932 – clown around.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A comic entertainer, usually grotesquely costumed and made up, especially in a [[circus]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A person who jokes and plays tricks.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A coarse, clumsy, rude person; a [[boor]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(archaic)'' A countryman or rustic.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To behave like a clown; to play the fool.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To perform as a clown.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[clownish]]

+ * [[clownishly]]

+ * [[clownishness]]

+ * [[clownery]]

+ * [[clown anemone]]

+ * [[clown fish]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[clod]]

+ * [[clot]]

+ * [[lump]]

+ * [[coulrophobia]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}