Arlecchino

== Italian == === Proper noun === Arlecchino m (theater) Harlequin (character) === Etymology === Borrowed from Middle French Harlequin (modern Arlequin), from Old French Hellequin or Herlequin (late 11th c.), a figure of medieval legend who led the maisnie Hellequin ("household of Hellequin"), a troop of demon horsemen. Further origin is likely Germanic: Possibly from Old English Herla (proper noun) cyning (“king”), a mythical figure associated with the Wild Hunt and the god Woden. Or from a reconstructed Frankish term such as *harja- (“army, host”) + *laik- (“play, dance”), referring to the dance of the dead. The name entered Italian as Alichino in Dante's Inferno (early 14th c.) before being adapted into the modern Arlecchino by the actor Tristano Martinelli in the late 16th century for the Commedia dell'arte.