Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗To act in a silly or playful fashion. · To ridicule, make fun of.
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. · A person who acts in a silly fashion. · A stupid person. · A man of coarse nature and manners; an awkward fellow; an illbred person; a boor.
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.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Cognate mentionklunniis · clumsy fellow, klutz
- Cognate mentionklunssv · clumsy fellow
- Derivation mentionklunzgml
- Derivation mention*gel-ine-pro
- Cognate mention*klottgmw-pro · lump
- Cognate mention*klūtazgem-pro · clod, lump
- Cognate mentionklönnefrr · clumsy fellow, klutz
- Cognate mentionklunsnl · clumsy fellow, klutz
- Cognate mentionkloennl · uncouth person, lout
- Non-cognate comparisoncolōnusla · colonist, farmer
This page abbreviates 2 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
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"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/klūtaz"
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"To act in a silly or playful fashion.",
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