clown: [16] Clown’s antecedents are obscure. Its earliest recorded sense is ‘unsophisticated or boorish country fellow’, which has led to speculation that it may come ultimately from Latin colonus ‘colonist, farmer’ (residence in the country often being associated with backwardness or lack of sophistication, as in the case heathen and pagan). Others, however, see a more direct source in a Germanic language from the Low Countries or Scandinavia: North Frisian klönne and Icelandic klunni, both meaning ‘clumsy person’, have been compared. [clown etymology, clown origin, 英语词源]