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Bible Encyclopedias
Clown
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
or (derived by Fuller, in his Worthies, from Lat. colonus, a husbandman; but apparently connected with "clod" and with similar forms in Teutonic and Scandinavian languages), a rustic, boorish person; the comic character in English pantomime, always dressed in baggy costume, with face whitened and eccentrically painted, and a tufted wig. The character probably descends from representations of the devil in medieval miracle-plays, developed partly through the stage rustics and partly through the fools or jesters (also called clowns) of the Elizabethan drama. The whitened face and baggy costume indicate a connexion also with the continental Pierrot. The prominence of the clown in pantomime (q.v.) is a comparatively modern development as compared with that of Harlequin.
These files are public domain.
Chisholm, Hugh, General Editor. Entry for 'Clown'. 1911 Encyclopedia Britanica. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/bri/c/clown.html. 1910.
