释义 |
Punchinellon. Origin: A borrowing from Italian. Etymon: Italian Policinella. Etymology: < Italian regional (Naples) Policinella, the name of a character in the commedia dell'arte (1621; Italian Pulcinella ), probably < pollicino chick ( < post-classical Latin pullicenus : see poussin n.) + -ella -ella suffix, apparently so called from the croaking voice and hooked nose associated with the character. Compare French Polichinelle, the name of a character in the commedia dell'arte (1649), the name of a character in a puppet show (1680).In β forms with assimilation of -l- to the following -n-, perhaps after puncheon n.2 In most forms with alteration of ending after -ello suffix. In form Polichinelle in some examples probably after French Polichinelle. Various alternative etymologies (all more or less unlikely) have been suggested for Neapolitan Policinella. Some have sought to derive it from the name of a real person: F. Galiani ( Vocabolario delle parole del dialetto Napoletano (1789)) cites a certain comedian Puccio d'Aniello, originally a peasant of Acerra, near Naples, whose uncouth physiognomy is said to have served as the model for the mask of the character; another conjecture cites the name of one Paulo Cinella, said to have been a buffoon at Naples; it is perhaps worth noting that the byname or surname Pulcinello or Polsinelli is occasionally attested in Italian documents as early as the end of the 13th cent. Others, who have seen a Greek origin in commedia dell'arte, have sought (rather unconvincingly) to derive Policinella from Greek. society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > puppetry > [noun] > character α. 1662 Ld. Chamberlain Order Nov. in E. B. Murrie (1932) 116 Signor Bologna, alias Pollichinella. 1666 S. Pepys 22 Aug. (1972) VII. 257 I with my wife..by coach to Moore fields and there saw ‘Polichinelle’, which pleases me mightily. 1668 S. Pepys 2 May (1976) IX. 183 [At the Duke of York's playhouse] A little boy, for a farce, doth dance Polichinelli. 1766 S. Sharp 183 Mortified and provoked that a puppet-shew..should draw the attention of the people from the Gospel..he held up the crucifix, and called aloud..‘Here is the true Pulchinello.’ 1798 T. Jones (1951) 57 The favourite mask among those of the lower order..was that of the Neapolitan pulcinello. 1827 B. Disraeli III. v. iv. 80 A long, grinning wooden figure, with great staring eyes, and the parrot nose of a pulcinello. 1880 J. L. Warren x. 110 Garnished about with festoons of roses, a branch of oak, mask and pulchinello, quiver and pan-pipe. 1897 Oct. 331 They are simply Judy-puppets in the Policinello of conventionality. 1934 W. Gerhardie xiv. 36 When I meet a vague acquaintance in the presence of others we laugh, for no reason, the laugh of complicity, of a polichinelle. 1998 80 157/2 Others have suggested that the figure of the Polichinelle..may be a surrogate for the painter. β. 1666 29 Mar. Rec. of Punchinello, ye Italian popet-player, for his booth at Chareing Crosse £2 12 6.1673 R. Hooke 12 Apr. (1968) 39 At Mr. Storys, Boyles, Punchanellos.a1680 S. Butler Satyr upon Ridiculous Imitation of French in (1928) 51 And the worst Drols of Punchinellos Were much th' ingeniouser Fellows.1728 J. Swift Mad Mullinix & Timothy in (1729) viii. 73 The World consists of Puppet-shows; Where petulant, conceited Fellows Perform the Part of Punchinelloes.1797 A. Radcliffe III. i. 45 See! Signor, there is Punchinello.1835 N. P. Willis I. xx. 142 Puncinello squeaked and beat his mistress at every corner.1867 22 Jan. 1/4 The great depot for ventriloquists, magicians, illusionists, conjurors, Chinese juddlers, marionettes, Punchinello, [etc.].1952 M. Kennedy 140 I saw Ludovic at an upper window, hanging over the sill in a limp manner resembling a punchinello at a puppet show.1994 (Nexis) 21 Nov. 14 Like the grotesque elongated nose, the character Punchinello exaggerated all disagreeable traits and bad habits.γ. 1668 J. Dryden v. 65 I know no way so proper for you as to turn Poet to Pugenello.1668 T. Shadwell v. 96 Enter a boy in the habit of Pugenello, and traverses the Stage.the world > space > shape > condition of being short and thick or broad > [noun] > object the world > life > the body > bodily height > shortness > [noun] > and broadness > person 1669 S. Pepys 20 Apr. (1976) IX. 528 Going away with extraordinary report of the proof of his gun, which, from the shortness and bigness, they do call ‘punchinello’. 1683 T. Tryon 478 We have no fatted Swine, fatted Oxen or Punchonello's amongst us: neither have we any of Pharoah's lean Kine. 1791 J. Boswell anno 1770 I. 344 [W. Maxwell:] Being told that Gilbert Cowper called him the Caliban of literature; ‘Well, (said he [sc. Johnson],) I must dub him the Punchinello.’ 1793 A. Young (ed. 2) 30 Should the dæmons of discord..bring Mr. Legislator Paine, (tired of being called the punchinello of the Convention), once more to Thetford, Sandwich, or Lewes. 1834 M. Howitt 13 Monkey, little merry fellow, Thou art Nature's Punchinello! 1859 J. W. De Forest xv. 207 Does any one wonder that we both thought of Robert as the family punchinello, and not of Hunter, who was our real buffoon? 1925 Aug. 400/2 This fellow was hardly your yearning lover frustrated; no punchinello; but just a hunky in a steel mill. 1957 V. Nabokov iii. 66 The tongue (that punchinello in the troupe [of speech organs]). 1983 (Nexis) 19 Oct. b1 Had Armstrong been merely Punchinello, he would have had little to say in his music. Compounds1783 M. Berry 25 Nov. (1865) I. 61 The church was darkened, and the scenery behind the show all lighted up in the exact style of a punchinello theatre. 1797 E. Burke Let. to Mrs. Crewe in (1844) IV. 417 The shame and misfortune of our country would make one almost mad, if these punchinello statesmen did not sometimes come out to make us laugh. 1856 H. Melville 423 Musing, therefore, upon the purely Punchinello aspect of the human figure thus beheld. 1972 J. Aiken iv. 62 Despite the Punchinello nose..the effect was one of immense charm. 1997 (Nexis) 9 Oct. 15 That hunched body and scrunched Punchinello face are bearable when they are winding up..for a 120 mph comic serve. C2. 1853 W. O. Markham tr. J. Skoda 283 The intensity of the râles..; the punchinello voice accompanying the pectoriloquy. 2005 (Nexis) 6 Mar. 12 ‘What's it got to do with you anyway?’ a crabbed little Punchinello voice shouts as soon as I go inside. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.1662 |