I take these Wisemen that crow so at these set kind of fools,
No better than the fool’s Zanies.
I, 5, 96.
The Italian Zanni or Zany is a contraction for Giovanni in the dialect of Bergamo, and is a nickname for a peasant of that place. The term Zany was generally applied in England to an inferior kind of fool imitating another or professional jester, corresponding in some degree to our own clown and pantaloon, the latter being the zany.
In connexion with the word Zany, it should be noted that Molière, the greatest dramatist after Shakespeare, usually introduced this character into his farces, under the name of Sgnarelle, which is a French rendering of the Italian word Zanarelle, the diminutive of Zanni. Molière himself generally acted this comic rôle.
TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA
ACTED. PAGEANTS. WOMAN’S PART. PLAY. PART. PLAY’D.
How tall was she?
About my stature: for at Pentecost
When all our pageants of delight were play’d,