fou

...There are various theories about the origin of the word, including that it means "childish play," "foolishness," "funny," or a corrupted version of the name of Saito Dosan's retainer, "Douka-so." The English word fool, the French word fou, and the German word narr all have various meanings, such as a fool, a foolish person, or a professional clown. The origin of the word fool is the Latin word follis (meaning "bellows"), which is thought to have likened the meaningless words of a clown to "wind."...

*Some of the terminology explanations that mention "fou" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…語源については，〈童戯〉〈戯気（たわけ）〉〈おどけ〉，斎藤道三（どうさん）の家来の〈道家某〉という名の転訛とするなど，諸説がある。英語のフールfool，フランス語のフーfou，ドイツ語のナルNarrは，愚者，まぬけ，職業的道化師など多様な意味内容をもつ。foolの語源はラテン語のフォリスfollis(〈ふいご〉の意)で，道化の無内容な言葉を〈風〉にたとえたと思われる。…

※「fou」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報