Wiktionary

clown

See also: Clown

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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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.[1]

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.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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A clown
 
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

clown (plural clowns)

  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.
    • 2008, Lich King, “Black Metal Sucks”, in Toxic Zombie Onslaught:
      Over there in Norway, the churches all burn down / Let's go dress in goth clothes and get painted like a clown
  2. A person who acts in a silly fashion.
    He was regarded as the clown of the school, always playing pranks.
  3. A stupid or badly-behaved person.
    • 2013, Kim Stanley Robinson, The Gold Coast: Three Californias (Wild Shore Triptych; 2)‎[1], Tom Doherty Associates, →ISBN, page 122:
      Everything’s on the table, the specs are there in the RFP and can’t be changed by some clown in the Air Force who happens to come up with a new idea.
    • 2017, Arron Crascall, See Ya Later: The World According to Arron Crascall:
      'Breaking my sister's heart then getting pissed with his mates in the very next pub while she's sobbing alone?' I dragged this clown away from the fruitie and back to Amy next door, running my mouth off at him as we went.
  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.
    • 1782–1785, William Cowper, “(please specify the page)”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson;  […], →OCLC:
      The clown, the child of nature, without guile.
    • August 25, 1759, Samuel Johnson, The Idler No. 71
      He […] began to descend to familiar questions, endeavouring to accommodate his discourse to the grossness of rustic understandings. The clowns soon found that he did not know wheat from rye, and began to despise him; one of the boys, by pretending to show him a bird's nest, decoyed him into a ditch; […]
  6. A clownfish.
    • 2006, Tropical Fish Hobbyist, volume 54, numbers 5-8, page 32:
      While the tomato clownfish Amphiprion frenatus has been spawned in captivity, wild-caught tomato clowns are more often seen for sale.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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clown (third-person singular simple present clowns, present participle clowning, simple past and past participle clowned)

  1. (intransitive) To act in a silly or playful fashion.
    • 2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 128:
      Except for Rasheena, the rest of the baby mamas was at least struggling to live halfway right. They used to clown and act shitty whenever they came by Noojie's and saw Carmiesha there. But every last one of them ended up being grateful to her for the things she did for their kids.
  2. (transitive, African-American Vernacular) To ridicule, make fun of.
    Synonym: clown on
    • 2002, Vibe, volume 10, number 11, page 62:
      The show Dismissed was one of my favorites, because I like to see people get clowned.
    • 2017, Darrell Smith, Miracle Baby:
      All my comrades were laughing and clowning me, but shit, that didn't stop me from talking more shit.

Derived terms

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959) “356-64”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, pages 356-64

Basque

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Etymology

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From English clown.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /klau̯n/ [klãũ̯n]
  • Rhymes: -au̯n
  • Hyphenation: clown

Noun

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clown anim

  1. clown (entertainer)
    Synonym: pailazo

Declension

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Declension of clown (animate, ending in consonant)
indefinite singular plural
absolutive clown clown-a clown-ak
ergative clown-ek clown-ak clown-ek
dative clown-i clown-ari clown-ei
genitive clown-en clown-aren clown-en
comitative clown-ekin clown-arekin clown-ekin
causative clown-engatik clown-arengatik clown-engatik
benefactive clown-entzat clown-arentzat clown-entzat
instrumental clown-ez clown-az clown-ez
inessive clown-engan clown-arengan clown-engan
locative — — —
allative clown-engana clown-arengana clown-engana
terminative clown-enganaino clown-arenganaino clown-enganaino
directive clown-enganantz clown-arenganantz clown-enganantz
destinative clown-enganako clown-arenganako clown-enganako
ablative clown-engandik clown-arengandik clown-engandik
partitive clown-ik — —
prolative clown-tzat — —

Further reading

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Dutch

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Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nl

Etymology

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Borrowed from English clown.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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clown m (plural clowns, diminutive clowntje n)

  1. clown (entertainer)

Derived terms

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See also

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French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English clown.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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clown m (plural clowns, feminine clownesse)

  1. clown (performer)
    Synonym: (Louisiana) macaque
  2. clown (person who acts in a comic way)

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Italian

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Italian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia it

Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English clown.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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clown m (invariable)

  1. clown (artist)
    Synonym: pagliaccio

References

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  1. ^ clown in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Polish

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English clown.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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clown m pers

  1. (comedy) Alternative spelling of klaun

Declension

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Declension of clown
singular plural
nominative clown clowni/clowny (deprecative)
genitive clowna clownów
dative clownowi clownom
accusative clowna clownów
instrumental clownem clownami
locative clownie clownach
vocative clownie clowni

Derived terms

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adjective
noun

Further reading

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  • clown in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • clown in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

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Noun

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clown m (plural clowni)

  1. Alternative form of clovn

Declension

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Declension of clown
singular plural
indefinite articulation definite articulation indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (un) clown clownul (niște) clowni clownii
genitive/dative (unui) clown clownului (unor) clowni clownilor
vocative clownule clownilor

References

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  • clown in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN

Spanish

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English clown.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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clown m (plural clownes)

  1. clown (circus performance artist)
    Synonym: payaso

Usage notes

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According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Further reading

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Swedish

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Etymology

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From English clown.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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clown c

  1. clown

Declension

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Declension of clown 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative clown clownen clowner clownerna
Genitive clowns clownens clowners clownernas

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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References

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Welsh

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Borrowed from English clown.

Noun

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clown m (plural clowniaid)

  1. clown

Etymology 2

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Alternative forms

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  • closwn (colloquial, first-person singular conditional)

Verb

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clown

  1. first-person plural present/future of cloi
  2. first-person singular imperfect/conditional of cloi
  3. (literary) first-person plural imperative of cloi

Mutation

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Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
clown glown nghlown chlown
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.
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