droll
English
Etymology
From French drôle (“comical, odd, funny”), from drôle (“buffoon”) from Middle French drolle (“a merry fellow, pleasant rascal”) from Old French drolle (“one who lives luxuriously”), from Middle Dutch drol (“fat little man, goblin”) from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old Norse troll (“giant, troll”) (compare Middle High German trolle (“clown”)), from Proto-Germanic *truzlą (“creature which walks clumsily”), from *truzlaną (“to walk with short steps”). Doublet of troll.
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 376: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /dɹəʊl/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 376: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GA" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /dɹoʊl/
- Rhymes: -əʊl
Adjective
droll (comparative droller, superlative drollest)
Derived terms
Translations
|
Noun
droll (plural drolls)
- (archaic) A funny person; a buffoon, a wag.
- 1751, Tobias Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, vol I, ch. 34:
- The lieutenant was a droll in his way, Peregrine possessed a great fund of sprightliness and good humour, and Godfrey, among his other qualifications already recited, sung a most excellent song […] .
- 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 12: The Cyclops]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 294:
- Our two inimitable drolls did a roaring trade with their broadsheets among lovers of the comedy element and nobody who has a corner in his heart for real Irish fun without vulgarity will grudge them their hardearned pennies.
- 1751, Tobias Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, vol I, ch. 34:
Verb
droll (third-person singular simple present drolls, present participle drolling, simple past and past participle drolled)
- (archaic) To jest, to joke.
- 1886 May 1 – July 31, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Flight in the Heather: The Heugh of Corrynakeigh”, in Kidnapped, being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: […], London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 1886, →OCLC, page 205:
- "Eh, man," said I, drolling with him a little, "you're very ingenious! But would it not be simpler for you to write him a few words in black and white?" / "And that is an excellent observe, Mr. Balfour of Shaws," says Alan, drolling with me; [...]
Anagrams
Icelandic
Pronunciation
Noun
Lua error in Module:is-noun at line 1769: Unrecognized gender 'drolls', should be 'm', 'f' or 'n': <drolls>
Declension
Related terms
- English terms derived from French
- English terms derived from Middle French
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Middle Dutch
- English terms derived from Old Norse
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English doublets
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/əʊl
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with archaic senses
- English terms with quotations
- English verbs
- en:Personality
- Icelandic 1-syllable words
- Icelandic terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Icelandic/ɔtl