clown

See also: Clown

English

Alternative forms

• clowne, cloyne (obsolete)

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”). Compare also North Frisian klönne (“clumsy fellow, klutz”), Dutch kluns (“clumsy fellow”). Unlikely from Latin colōnus (“colonist, farmer”), although learned awareness of this term may have influenced semantic development.

Pronunciation

• enPR: kloun, IPA^(key): /klaʊn/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -aʊn

Noun

A clown

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", 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.
   • a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the page number)”, in Fulke Greville, Matthew Gwinne, and John Florio, editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, OCLC 801077108; republished in Albert Feuillerat, editor, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia (Cambridge English Classics: The Complete Works of Sir Philip Sidney; I), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1912, OCLC 318419127:

     This loutish clown is such that you never saw so ill - favoured a vizar

   • 1700, Timothy Nourse, Campania Foelix, pp. 15–16

     […] three things ought always to be kept under: a mastiff dog, a stone horse and a clown; and really I think a snarling, cross-grained clown to be the most unlucky beast of three.

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 228757725:

     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, issues 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

• (person who acts in a silly fashion): See Thesaurus:fool, jester, & laughingstock

Derived terms

• ass clown
• class clown
• clown beetle
• clown car
• clown-car primary
• clown doctor
• clown fish
• clownfish
• clownish
• clownless
• clownlike
• clown nose
• clown shoe
• clown therapy
• clown world
• zioclown (offensive)

 

Translations

performance artist working in a circus

• Afrikaans: nar (af), harlekyn (af), paljas (af)
• Albanian: gaztor (sq) m, klloun m, palaço (sq) m
• Arabic: مُهَرِّج‎ m (muharrij)

  Gulf Arabic: ارقوز‎ m (aragōz)

  Hijazi Arabic: مهرج‎ (muharrij), أرقوز‎ m (aragōz)

  Egyptian Arabic: بلياتشو‎ (belyatšo), بهلوان‎ (bahlawān)

• Armenian: ծաղրածու (hy) (całracu)
• Asturian: payasu m
• Azerbaijani: kloun (az), oyunbaz
• Belarusian: клоўн m (kloŭn)
• Bulgarian: кло́ун (bg) m (klóun)
• Catalan: pallasso (ca) m, pallassa (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 小丑 (zh) (xiǎochǒu)

• Czech: klaun m
• Danish: klovn (da) c
• Dutch: clown (nl) m
• Esperanto: klaŭno, klaŭnino (female)
• Faroese: íspegil m, (colloquial) klovnur m
• Finnish: klovni (fi), pelle (fi)
• French: clown (fr) m, clownesse (fr) f, pitre (fr) m or f, bouffon (fr) m, bouffonne (fr) f
• Galician: pallaso (gl) m
• Georgian: კლოუნი (ḳlouni)
• German: Clown (de) m, Clownin (de) f
• Greek: κλόουν (el) m (klóoun), παλιάτσος (el) m (paliátsos), γελωτοποιός (el) m (gelotopoiós)

  Ancient: γελωτοποιός m (gelōtopoiós)

• Greenlandic: quiasaarisartoq
• Hebrew: לֵיצָן‎ (he) m (leitsán), ליצנית‎ f (leytsanit)
• Hindi: विदूषक (hi) m (vidūṣak), जोकर m (jokar)
• Hungarian: bohóc (hu)
• Icelandic: trúður (is) m
• Ido: klauno (io)
• Indonesian: badut (id)
• Irish: áilteoir m
• Italian: pagliaccio (it) m, pagliaccia f
• Japanese: ピエロ (piero), 道化師 (どうけし, dōkeshi)
• Kazakh: клоун (kloun)
• Korean: 어릿광대 (ko) (eoritgwangdae), 광대 (ko) (gwangdae), 피에로 (ko) (piero)
• Kyrgyz: клоун (kloun)
• Latin: sanniō m, balatrō m
• Latvian: klauns m
• Macedonian: кловн m (klovn), палја́чо m (paljáčo)
• Malay: badut (ms)
• Malayalam: കോമാളി (ml) (kōmāḷi)
• Marathi: जोकर m (jokar)
• Navajo: łą́ʼátʼíinii
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: klovn (no) m, bajas (no) m

  Nynorsk: klovn m

• Occitan: palhassa (oc) m
• Persian: دلقک‎ (fa) (dalqak)
• Plautdietsch: Spucht m
• Polish: klaun (pl) m, błazen (pl) m
• Portuguese: palhaço (pt) m, palhaça (pt) f
• Romanian: clovn (ro) m, bufon (ro) m, bufonă f, măscărici (ro) m, paiață (ro) f
• Romansch: clown m
• Russian: кло́ун (ru) m (klóun), шут (ru) m (šut), пая́ц (ru) m (pajác)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: клаун m, кловн m

  Roman: klaun (sh) m, klovn (sh) m

• Slovak: klaun m
• Slovene: klovn (sl) m, klovnesa f
• Spanish: payaso (es) m, payasa f, clown (es) m, clon (es) m
• Swedish: clown (sv) c, pajas (sv) c
• Tagalog: payaso
• Tajik: масхарабоз (masxaraboz)
• Thai: ตัวตลก (th) (dtuua-dtà-lòk)
• Turkish: palyaço (tr)
• Ukrainian: кло́ун (uk) m (klóun)
• Uzbek: kloun, masxaraboz (uz)
• Vietnamese: hề (vi)
• Welsh: clown m
• Yiddish: פּאַיאַץ‎ m (payats)

person acting in a silly fashion

• Arabic: مُهَرِّج‎ m (muharrij)

  Gulf Arabic: ارقوز‎ m (aragōz)

• Bulgarian: шут (bg) m (šut), паля́чо (bg) n (paljáčo)
• Danish: klovn (da) c
• Finnish: pelle (fi)
• French: bouffon (fr) m, bouffonne (fr) f, pitre (fr) m or f, guignol (fr) m, idiot (fr) m, idiote (fr) f, andouille (fr) f, mariole (fr) m
• German: Trottel (de) m
• Greek: παλιάτσος (el) m (paliátsos), τζουτζές (el) m (tzoutzés), καραγκιόζης (el) m (karagkiózis)
• Hungarian: bohóc (hu)
• Icelandic: galgopi (is) m, glanni (is) m, grallari (is) m
• Irish: áilteoir m
• Italian: buffone (it) m, buffona f
• Japanese: 道化 (ja) (どうけ, dōke)
• Macedonian: кловн m (klovn), шут m (šut), палја́чо m (paljáčo)
• Maori: kiri hangareka
• Norman: bouffon m
• Persian: دلقک‎ (fa) (dalqak), شوت‎ (fa) (šut)
• Polish: pajac (pl) m, błazen (pl) m
• Portuguese: palhaço (pt) m, palhaça (pt) f
• Romanian: paiață (ro) f, bufon (ro) m, bufonă f
• Russian: кло́ун (ru) m (klóun), шут (ru) m (šut), пая́ц (ru) m (pajác), скоморо́х (ru) m (skomoróx), фигля́р (ru) m (figljár), буффо́н (ru) m (buffón)
• Slovene: klovn (sl) m
• Spanish: payaso (es) m, payasa f
• Swahili: mcheshi (sw)
• Swedish: clown (sv) c
• Tajik: ширинкор (širinkor)
• Ukrainian: кло́ун (uk) m (klóun)
• Yiddish: פּאַיאַץ‎ m (payats)

Verb

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.
2. (transitive, African-American Vernacular) To ridicule.

   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

• clown about (British)
• clown around

See also

• coulrophobia
• jester
• jackpudding

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Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English clown.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /klɑu̯n/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: clown
• Rhymes: -ɑu̯n

Noun

clown m (plural clowns, diminutive clowntje n)

1. clown (entertainer)

Derived terms

• circusclown
• clownsneus
• clownvis

See also

• august
• harlekijn
• paljas
• pierrot
• nar
• witte clown
• zot

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French

Etymology

From English clown.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /klun/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophone: clowns

Noun

clown m (plural clowns, feminine clownesse)

1. clown (performer)

   Synonym: (Louisiana) macaque

2. clown (person who acts in a comic way)

Derived terms

• pantalon clown /pantalon de clown

Further reading

• “clown”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English clown.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈklawn/
• Rhymes: -awn

Noun

clown m (invariable)

1. clown (artist)

   Synonym: pagliaccio

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Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from English clown.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /klawn/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -awn
• Syllabification: clown

Noun

clown m pers

1. (comedy) Alternative spelling of klaun

Declension

Declension of clown

	singular	plural
nominative	clown	clowni
genitive	clowna	clownów
dative	clownowi	clownom
accusative	clowna	clownów
instrumental	clownem	clownami
locative	clownie	clownach
vocative	clownie	clowni

Derived terms

adjective

• clownowski

 

noun

• clownada

 

Further reading

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

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Romanian

Noun

clown m (plural clowni)

1. Obsolete form of clovn.

Declension

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

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

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Spanish

Alternative forms

• clon

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English clown.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈklon/ [ˈklõn]
• Rhymes: -on

Noun

clown m (plural clownes)

1. clown (circus performance artist)

   Synonym: payaso

Further reading

• “clown”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

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Swedish

Etymology

From English clown.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈklaʊn/

Noun

clown c

1. clown

Declension

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

Synonyms

• pajas

Derived terms

• clownaktig
• clownfisk

References

• clown in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

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Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /klou̯n/
• IPA^(key): /klɔu̯n/
• Rhymes: -ou̯n

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English clown.

Noun

clown m (plural clowniaid)

1. clown

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• closwn (colloquial, first-person singular conditional)

Verb

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

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.