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 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. (intransitive) To act in a silly or playful fashion.
2. (transitive) To ridicule, make fun of.

Synonyms

buffoon

jester

comedian

joker

fool

comic

harlequin

buffon

antic

wag

boor

entertainer

merry andrew

funnyman

clown around

merry-andrew

bumpkin

droll

goof

lout

mime

silly

zany

goofball

bufoon

funny person

joke

🤣

farmer

🧑‍🌾

josh

kid

🧒

laughingstock

loon

harlequinesque

merryandrew

anserous

oaf

pantaloon

patch

peasant

pleb

prankster

screwball

semiconscious

unwitty

smart aleck

smart ass

stooge

smart alec

wacky

countryman

Translations

clown

Clown

pagliaccio

payaso

bouffon

palhaço

clown

παλιάτσος

pallasso

buffone

hansworst

bufón

κλόουν

Pronounced as (IPA)

/klaʊn/

Etymology

Cognate with Icelandic: klunni

Cognate with Swedish: kluns

Cognate with Northern Frisian: klönne

Cognate with Dutch: kluns

Cognate with Dutch: kloen

In summary

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.