(Italian zanni, a buffoon; Latin sannio, “sanna” means a grimace, and “sanneo” one who makes grimaces).
“For indeed,
He’s like the ‘zani to a tumbler
That tries tricks after him to make men laugh.”
B. Jonson: Every Man out of his Humour, iv. 2.
“He belonged to one of those dramatic companies called zanni, who went about the country reciting and acting.”—John Inglesant, chap. xxvii.
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