clown

Meaning

Noun

1. A slapstick performance artist often associated with a circus and usually characterized by bright, oversized clothing, a red nose, face paint, and a brightly colored wig.
2. A person who acts in a silly fashion.
3. A stupid or badly-behaved person.
4. (obsolete) A man of coarse nature and manners; an awkward fellow; an illbred person; a boor.
5. (obsolete) One who works upon the soil; a rustic; a churl; a yokel.
6. A clownfish.

Verb

1. To act in a silly or playful fashion.
2. To ridicule, make fun of.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/klaʊn/

Etymology

From earlier clowne, cloyne (“man of rustic or coarse manners, boor, peasant”). likely of North Germanic origin, akin to Icelandic klunni (“clumsy fellow, klutz”), Swedish kluns (“clumsy fellow”), all from Middle Low German klunz, from klunt (“pile, lump, something thick”); according to Pokorny, this could be related to a group of Germanic derivatives of Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to ball up; amass”), such as Proto-West Germanic *klott (“lump”), Proto-Germanic *klūtaz (“clod, lump”), *kultaz (“lump, bundle”), etc.
Alternatively, directly from Low German (compare North Frisian klönne (“clumsy fellow, klutz”), Dutch kluns (“clumsy fellow, klutz”), Dutch kloen (“uncouth person, lout”)), themselves from the same ultimate source as above.
Unlikely from Latin colōnus (“colonist, farmer”), although learned awareness of this term may have influenced semantic development.