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Harlequin
(här′li kwin, -kin)
noun
- 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
- a clown; buffoon
Origin: Fr harlequin, arlequin < OFr hierlekin, hellequin, demon: Fr sense & form infl. by It arlecchino < same OFr source
adjective
- comic; ludicrous
- of many colors; colorful
See Harlequin in American Heritage Dictionary 4
noun
- Harlequin A conventional buffoon of the commedia dell'arte, traditionally presented in a mask and parti-colored tights.
- A clown; a buffoon.
Having a pattern of brightly colored diamond shapes.
Origin:
Origin: Obsolete French
Origin: , from Old French Herlequin, Hellequin, a demon
Origin: , perhaps from Middle English *Herleking
Origin: , from Old English Herla cyning, King Herla, a mythical figure identified with Woden
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