harlequin

(hir’le-kin or -kwin), n. and a. [For- merly also harlekin, harlaken; = D. harlekijn = G. Dan. Sw. harlekin, prob. Sp. arlequin, arnequin = Pg. arlequim = It. arlecchino), a harlequin; prob.alater form (a ociated with a popular etymology which connected the word with Charles Quint, Charles V.)of OF. herlequin, herlekin, helequin, halequin, hellekin, hierlekin, hellequin (13th century), a demon, Satan, earlier and usually occurring in the phrase la mesnie hellekin (la maisnie hierlekin, ete., ML. harlequin i familia, ME. Hurlewaynes kynne, or Hurlewaynes meyne), in popular superstition a troop of yelling demons that haunted lonely places or appeared in tempests, the OF. mesnie (maisnie, maisnee, meisnee, ME. mainee, meinee, meyne, etc., H. obs. many”), a family, company, troop, in this phrase being appar. orig. an explanatory addition, giying hellekin the appearance of a quasi-genitive of a personal name, as reflected in the ML. and ME. expre ions; hellekin, hellequin, etc., itself meaning orig. ‘troop of hell’ (lit. ‘hell’s kin,’ harlequin and reddish. It inhabits the arctic regions of both hemispheres, migrating south in winter.— Harlequin moth. Same as harlequin, 3.—Harlequin service, harlequin set, in ceram., a number of pieces or utensils sufficiently alike to form a service or set, but not identical in decoration: as, for instance, a number of cups and saucers of the same or nearly the same form and size, but differing in color. Such a set may sometimes be made up of pieces bought separately; but more commonly harlequin sets are manufactured expre ly, as at the great factories of Sévres and Mei en.— Harlequin snake, the coral-snake, Elaps fulvius, and other species of this genus: so called from the variegation of black with red or orange.