noun
- a person who is given to witticisms, jokes, and pranks.
- a professional fool or clown, especially at a medieval court.
noun
- a professional clown employed by a king or nobleman, esp at courts during the Middle Ages
mid-14c., jestour (Anglo-Latin), late 14c., gestour “a minstrel, professional reciter of romances,” agent noun from gesten “recite a tale,” which was a jester’s original function (see jest). Sense of “buffoon in a prince’s court” is from c.1500.