Merry-andrew

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Merry-andrew \Mer"ry-an"drew\ (m[e^]r"r[y^]-[a^]n"dr[udd]), n.
     One whose business is to make sport for others; a buffoon; a
     zany; especially, one who attends a mountebank or quack
     doctor.
     [1913 Webster]
  


     Note: This term is said to have originated from one Andrew
           Borde, an English physician of the 16th century, who
           gained patients by facetious speeches to the multitude.
           [1913 Webster]