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.
1
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.
Over there in Norway, the churches all burn down / Let's go dress in goth clothes and get painted like a clown2008, Lich King, “Black Metal Sucks”, in Toxic Zombie Onslaught:
2
A person who acts in a silly fashion.
He was regarded as the clown of the school, always playing pranks.
3
A stupid person.
"The dealers snatched at the state of intellectual exhaustion and scepticism of all values that followed the first world war to abolish values and substitute for them an arbitrary mumbo-jumbo of occultism and pseudo-Freudianism, which they tagged on to the works of studio clowns like Picasso and Modigliani and the like."1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 81:
Doc Bruce Banner, belted by gamma rays, Turns into the Hulk – Ain’t he unglamour-rays! [unglamorous] Wreckin’ the town with the power of a bull, Ain’t no monster, clown. Who is as lovable As ever-lovin’ Hulk? - Hulk! Hulk!1966, “The Incredible Hulk (theme song)”, Jacques Urbont (lyrics) (The Marvel Super Heroes (television series)):
2 more examples
Everything’s on the table, the specs are there in the RFP and can’t be changed by some clown in the Air Force who happens to come up with a new idea.2013, Kim Stanley Robinson, The Gold Coast: Three Californias (Wild Shore Triptych; 2), Tom Doherty Associates, →ISBN, page 122:
'Breaking my sister's heart then getting pissed with his mates in the very next pub while she's sobbing alone?' I dragged this clown away from the fruitie and back to Amy next door, running my mouth off at him as we went.2017, Arron Crascall, See Ya Later: The World According to Arron Crascall:
4
Archaic A man of coarse nature and manners; an awkward fellow; an illbred person; a boor.
This loutish clown is such that you never saw so ill - favoured a vizara. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC:
[…] three things ought always to be kept under: a mastiff dog, a stone horse and a clown; and really I think a snarling, cross-grained clown to be the most unlucky beast of three.1700, Timothy Nourse, Campania Foelix, pages 15–16:
5
Archaic One who works upon the soil; a rustic; a churl; a yokel.
The clown, the child of nature, without guile.1782–1785, William Cowper, “(please specify the page)”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson; […], →OCLC:
He […] began to descend to familiar questions, endeavouring to accommodate his discourse to the grossness of rustic understandings. The clowns soon found that he did not know wheat from rye, and began to despise him; one of the boys, by pretending to show him a bird's nest, decoyed him into a ditch; […]August 25, 1759, Samuel Johnson, The Idler No. 71
6
A clownfish.
While the tomato clownfish Amphiprion frenatus has been spawned in captivity, wild-caught tomato clowns are more often seen for sale.2006, Tropical Fish Hobbyist, volume 54, numbers 5-8, page 32:
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.
1
To act in a silly or playful fashion.
Except for Rasheena, the rest of the baby mamas was at least struggling to live halfway right. They used to clown and act shitty whenever they came by Noojie's and saw Carmiesha there. But every last one of them ended up being grateful to her for the things she did for their kids.2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 128:
2
To ridicule, make fun of.
African-American Vernacular
The show Dismissed was one of my favorites, because I like to see people get clowned.2002, Vibe, volume 10, number 11, page 62:
All my comrades were laughing and clowning me, but shit, that didn't stop me from talking more shit.2017, Darrell Smith, Miracle Baby: