Buffoon
mid 16th century: from French bouffon, from Italian buffone, from medieval Latin buffo ‘clown’. Originally recorded as a rare Scots word for a kind of pantomime dance, the term later (late 16th century) denoted a professional jester.
wiktionary
From Middle French bouffon, from Italian buffone(“jester”), from buffare(“to puff out the cheeks”), of unknown origin. Compare Middle High German buffen("to puff"; > German büffen), Old English pyffan(“to breathe out, blow with the mouth”). More at English puff.
etymonline
buffoon (n.)
1540s, "type of pantomime dance;" 1580s, "professional comic fool;" 1590s in the general sense "a clown, a joker;" from French bouffon (16c.), from Italian buffone "jester," from buffa "joke, jest, pleasantry," from buffare "to puff out the cheeks," a comic gesture, of echoic origin. Also see -oon.
