a humorous character in some traditional plays, who wears special brightly coloured clothes with a diamond pattern (传统戏剧中穿色彩斑斓菱形花纹服装的)滑稽角色 Word Originlate 16th cent.: from obsolete French, from earlier Herlequin (or Hellequin), the name of the leader of a legendary troop of demon horsemen; perhaps ultimately related to Old English Herla cyning ‘King Herla’, a mythical figure sometimes identified with Woden (another name for Odin, the supreme god and creator in Scandinavian mythology).