pagliaccio

Italian

FWOTD – 18 July 2016

Etymology

The traditional Italian character's outfit was made of the same fabric used to cover straw mattresses: from paglia (straw), from Latin palea (chaff).[1]

Un pagliaccio dai capelli rossi

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /paʎˈʎat.tʃo/, [päˈʎːät͡ʃːo]

Noun

pagliaccio m (plural pagliacci, feminine pagliaccia)

  1. (also derogatory) clown, buffoon
    • 1889, Edmondo De Amicis, “Febbraio”, in Cuore, page 139:
      Scrivi un bell’articolo sulla Gazzetta, – gli disse, – tu che sai scrivere: tu racconti i miracoli del piccolo pagliaccio e io faccio il suo ritratto; la Gazzetta la leggon tutti, e almeno per una volta accorrerà gente. []
      (please add an English translation of this quote)

Derived terms

Descendants

References

Anagrams

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.