clown

See also: Clown

English

Etymology

Likely from North Germanic, akin to Icelandic klunni (“klutz”) and Old Frisian klönne (“klutz”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: kloun, IPA^(key): /klaʊn/
• Rhymes: -aʊn

Noun

A clown

clown (plural clowns)

1. A performance artist often associated with a circus and typically characterised by bright, oversized clothing, a red nose, face paint, and a brightly colored wig and who performs slapstick.
2. A person who acts in a silly fashion.
3. (Britain) A stupid person.
4. (obsolete) A man of coarse nature and manners; an awkward fellow; an illbred person; a boor.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir Philip Sidney to this entry?)

5. (obsolete) One who works upon the soil; a rustic; a churl.
   • Cowper

     The clown, the child of nature, without guile.

Synonyms

• (person who acts in a silly fashion): buffoon, fool

Derived terms

• class clown
• clown doctor
• clownfish
• clownish

Translations

performance artist working in a circus

• Afrikaans: nar, harlekyn, paljas
• Albanian: klloun m
• Arabic: مُهَرِّج‏‎ m (muharrij)
• Armenian: ծաղրածու (hy) (całracu)
• Asturian: payasu m
• Azeri: oyunbaz
• Belarusian: клоўн m (kloŭn)
• Bulgarian: кло́ун (bg) m (klóun)
• Catalan: pallasso m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 小丑 (zh) (xiǎochǒu)

• Czech: klaun m
• Danish: klovn (da)
• Dutch: clown (nl) m
• Esperanto: klaŭno
• Faroese: íspegil m, (colloquial) klovnur m
• Finnish: klovni (fi), pelle (fi)
• French: clown (fr) m, pitre (fr) m, bouffon (fr) m
• Galician: pallaso m
• Georgian: კლოუნი (ḳlouni)
• German: Clown (de) m
• Greek: κλόουν (el) m (klóoun), παλιάτσος (el) m (paliátsos), γελωτοποιός (el) m (gelotopoiós)
• Greenlandic: quiasaarisartoq
• Hebrew: ליצן‏‎ (he) m (leyṣan), ליצנית‏‎ f (leyṣanit)
• Hungarian: bohóc (hu)
• Icelandic: trúður m
• Ido: klauno (io)
• Indonesian: badut (id)
• Italian: pagliaccio (it) m
• Japanese: ピエロ (piero), 道化師 (どうけし, dōkeshi)

• Korean: 어릿광대 (ko) (eoritgwangdae), 광대 (ko) (gwangdae), 피에로 (piero)
• Latvian: klauns m
• Macedonian: кловн m (klovn), палја́чо m (paljáčo)
• Malay: badut (ms)
• Malayalam: കോമാളി (ml) (kōmāḷi)
• Marathi: जोकर m (jokar)
• Navajo: łą́ʼátʼíinii
• Norwegian: klovn (no) m
• Persian: دلقک‏‎ (fa) (dalqak)
• Polish: klaun (pl) m
• Portuguese: palhaço (pt) m
• Romanian: clovn (ro) m, bufon (ro) m, 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
• Swahili: mcheshi (sw)
• Swedish: clown (sv) c, pajas (sv) c
• Tagalog: payaso
• Turkish: palyaço (tr)
• Ukrainian: кло́ун (uk) m (klóun)
• Uzbek: kloun, masxaraboz (uz)
• Vietnamese: người hề (vi)
• Welsh: clown m
• Yiddish: פּאַיאַץ‏‎ m (payats)

person acting in a silly fashion

• Bulgarian: шут (bg) m (šut), паля́чо (bg) n (paljáčo)
• Danish: klovn (da)
• Finnish: pelle (fi)
• French: bouffon (fr) m, pitre (fr) m, guignol (fr) m, idiot (fr) m, 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)
• Italian: buffone (it) m
• Japanese: 道化 (どうけ, dōke)
• Macedonian: кловн m (klóvn)
• Norman: bouffon m

• Persian: دلقک‏‎ (fa) (dalqak)
• Polish: pajac (pl) m
• Portuguese: palhaço (pt) m
• Romanian: paiață (ro) f, bufon (ro) m
• Russian: кло́ун (ru) m (klóun), шут (ru) m (šut), пая́ц (ru) m (pajác)
• Slovene: klovn (sl) m
• Spanish: payaso (es) m, payasa f
• Swahili: mcheshi (sw)
• Swedish: clown (sv) c
• 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.

Derived terms

• clown about (British)
• clown around

See also

• coulrophobia
• jester
• jackpudding

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French

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /klun/
• Homophone: clowns

Noun

clown m (plural clowns)

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

Further reading

• “clown” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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Italian

Noun

clown m (invariable)

1. clown (artist)

Synonyms

• pagliaccio

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Spanish

Alternative forms

• clon

Etymology

From English clown.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /klon/

Noun

clown m (plural clownes)

1. clown (circus performance artist)

Synonyms

• payaso m

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Swedish

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

Derived terms

• clownfisk

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Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /klɔu̯n/

Etymology 1

Borrowing 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.