pierrot

P3I1E1R1R1O1T1
/pɪəˈɹəʊ//pjɛˈɹəʊ/

noun

Any of various lycaenid butterflies of the genera Tarucus and Castalia, notable for white contrasting with brown or black on the underwings.

UncommonScrabble 9

Meanings

pierrot1

nounpierrot (plural pierrots)

plural pierrots

  1. alternativeAlternative form of Pierrot.

    Then came the very young, in the “Ballabile des Enfants” from “Harlequinade,” a colorful, confectionary swirl of polichinelles, pierrots and scaramouches, set to Riccardo Drigo.

    2009 June 3, Claudia La Rocco, “With Each Youthful Step, Discoveries and Transformations”, in New York Times
  2. Any of various lycaenid butterflies of the genera Tarucus and Castalia, notable for white contrasting with brown or black on the underwings.
  3. historicalAn 18th-century women's low-cut basque with sleeves.

Pierrot2

proper nounPierrot (plural Pierrots)

plural Pierrots

  1. A character from French pantomime; a buffoon in a loose white outfit; a popular choice for a masquerade costume.

    The rest of the family then invades the studio, three boys dressed as Pierrots and three girls dressed as Pierrettes.

    2019, Karl Toepfer, Pantomime, page 741
    2 more examples

    I'll win them by politeness, and... and... show them that I've nothing to do with that Aesop, that buffoon, that Pierrot, and have merely been taken in over this affair, just as they have.

    1912, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, translated by Constance Garnett, The Brothers Karamazov, published 1880, Book II, chapter 8

    And he was attending that fancy-dress ball, mark you--not, like every other well-bred Englishman, as a Pierrot, but as Mephistopheles […] "He said that the costume of Pierrot, while pleasing to the eye, lacked the authority of the Mephistopheles costume."

    1934, P. G. Wodehouse, Right Ho, Jeeves

Origin

  1. FrenchPierrot
  2. EnglishPierrot

French Pierrot, diminutive of Pierre (“Peter”) via diminutive suffix -ot.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Esperanto Peĉjo
  • Peĉjobuffoon
French Pierrot
  • Pierrotbuffoon
Italian Pedrolino
  • Pedrolinobuffoon
Japanese ピエロ
  • ピエロbuffoon
Portuguese Pierrô
  • Pierrôbuffoon
Russian Пьеро́
  • Пьеро́ (Pʹjeró)buffoon

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with pierrot

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

pierrot. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pierrot

MLA

“pierrot.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pierrot. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pierrot,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pierrot.

Source: pierrot on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.