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Harlequin definition

Har·lequin (här′li kwin, -kin)

noun

  1. a traditional comic character in pantomime, who wears a mask and spangled, diamond-patterned tights of many colors and sometimes carries a wooden wand or sword
  2. a clown; buffoon

Etymology: Fr harlequin, arlequin < OFr hierlekin, hellequin, demon: Fr sense & form infl. by It arlecchino < same OFr source

adjective

  1. comic; ludicrous
  2. of many colors; colorful

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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