harlequin: [16] Harlequin, a brightly-clad character in the Italian commedia dell’arte, has a murky history. He seems to have originated in a mythical figure known in Old French as Herlequin or Hellequin, who was the leader of a ghostly troop of horsemen who rode across the sky at night. And Herlequin could well be a later incarnation of King Herla (in Old English Herla cyning), a legendary personage who has been identified with the chief Anglo-Saxon god Woden.
It seems likely that another piece of the jigsaw could be the erlking, the supernatural abductor of children described in a Goethe poem memorably set to music by Schubert; its name is generally traced back to Danish ellerkonge, a variant of elverkonge, literally ‘king of the elves’, which bears a resemblance to Herlequin that is surely too strong to be coincidental.
In early modern French Herlequin became Harlequin, the form borrowed by English (present-day French arlequin shows the influence of Italian arlecchino). => king
harlequin (n.)
1580s, Harlicken, one of the stock characters of Italian commedia del'arte, from Middle French harlequin, from Italian arlecchino, which is possibly from the same source as Old French Herlequin, Hellequin, etc., leader of la maisnie Hellequin, a troop of demons who rode the night air on horses. This is perhaps of Germanic origin; he seems to correspond to Old English Herla cyning "King Herla," mythical character sometimes identified as Woden, and possibly also to German Erlkönig, the "Elf King" of the Goethe poem. Sometimes also associated with Herrequin, 9c. count of Boulogne, who was proverbially wicked. In English pantomime, a mute character who carries a magic wand. From his ludicrous dress comes the English adjective meaning "particolored" (1779).
双语例句
1. Mr. Cruncher reposed under a patchwork counterpane, like a Harlequin at home.
克朗彻先生盖了一床白衲衣图案的花哨被子, 像是呆在家里的丑角.
来自英汉文学 - 双城记
2. Harlequin ichthyosis ( HI ) is a severe subtype of autosomal recessive congenital ichthyoses ( ARCI ) .
丑角样鱼鳞病是常染色体隐性遗传性鱼鳞病的一种严重 亚型.
来自互联网
3. Pierrot, Harlequin, and Columbine will go to bed late this evening.
小丑, 丑角和哥伦拜恩会今天晚上睡觉晚.
来自互联网
4. A comedy or pantomime in which Harlequin is the main attraction.
演喜剧里的配角或丑角,以顺从的、下级的方式行事.
来自互联网
5. Albert was triumphant in his harlequin costume.