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”), 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.

Pronunciation

• enPR: kloun, IPA^(key): /klaʊn/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (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”, 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.
   • a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia, London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC:

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

   • 1700, Timothy Nourse, Campania Foelix, pages 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:

     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

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

Derived terms

• assclown
• ass clown
• beclown
• class clown
• clownage
• clown beetle
• clown car
• clown-car primary
• clowncel
• clowncore
• clown doctor
• clowndom
• clownery
• clowness
• clown fish
• clownfish
• clownish
• clownism
• clownless
• clownlike
• clownly
• clown mantis shrimp
• clown nose
• clownology
• clownship
• clown shoe
• clown show
• clownstep
• clown therapy
• clown world
• clussy
• rodeo clown
• zioclown (offensive)

 

Translations

performance artist working in a circus

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

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

  Gulf Arabic: ارقوز m (aragōz)

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

  North Levantine Arabic: مهرج (muharrij)

  South Levantine Arabic: مهرج (muharrij)

• Armenian: ծաղրածու (hy) (caġracu)
• Asturian: payasu (ast) 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, clown (it) m or f
• Japanese: ピエロ (ja) (piero), 道化師 (ja) (どうけし, dōkeshi)
• Kazakh: клоун (kloun)
• Korean: 어릿광대 (ko) (eoritgwangdae), 광대 (ko) (gwangdae), 피에로 (ko) (piero)
• Kyrgyz: клоун (kloun)
• Latin: scurra m, 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, haashchʼéídóó
• 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)
• Tibetan: གད་མོ་སློང་མཁན (gad mo slong mkhan)
• 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

• Afrikaans: nar (af), hanswors (af)
• Arabic: مُهَرِّج m (muharrij)

  Gulf Arabic: ارقوز m (aragōz)

• Asturian: payasu (ast)
• 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, Witzfigur (de)
• 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
• Indonesian: badut (id)
• Ingrian: petruška
• Irish: áilteoir m
• Italian: buffone (it) m, buffona f, pagliaccio (it) m, pagliaccia f, clown (it) m or 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.
   • 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

• clown about (British)
• clown around
• clownophobia

See also

• coulrophobia
• jester
• jackpudding

Basque

Etymology

From English clown.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

clown anim

1. clown (entertainer)

   Synonym: pailazo

Declension

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

• “clown”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia, Euskaltzaindia

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

French

Etymology

Borrowed 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.

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English clown.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈklawn/
• Rhymes: -awn

Noun

clown m (invariable)

1. clown (artist)

   Synonym: pagliaccio

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English clown.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈklawn/

• 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/clowny (deprecative)
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

Romanian

Noun

clown m (plural clowni)

1. Alternative 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

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

Usage notes

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

• “clown”, in Diccionario de la lengua española (in Spanish), 23rd edition, Royal Spanish Academy, 2014 October 16

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from English clown.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈklaʊn/

Noun

clown c

1. clown

Declension

Declension of clown

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	clown	clowns
	definite	clownen	clownens
plural	indefinite	clowner	clowners
	definite	clownerna	clownernas

Synonyms

• pajas

Derived terms

• cirkusclown
• clownaktig
• clowneri
• clownfisk
• clownnäsa
• clownupptåg

References

• clown in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

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

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.