Histrione is Latin and means actor. The word originated in Etruscan and originally described a pantomimic dancer, and in the Middle Ages mainly a juggler or a performer who presented his ability in front of the audience.
The word Histrione can, however, be understood as archaism, since it is rarely used in everyday language. Archaism describes words whose meaning and origin are unfamiliar or common to most participants in a language.
Word origin and spelling
His | tri | o | ne also: Hist | ri | o | ne
1. Originally Etruscan: pantomim. dancer
2. in ancient Rome: actors
3. in the Middle Ages: Gaukler
Histrione in language usage
The word Histrione is very rare in us. However, there is the so-called Histrionic personality disorder, which ultimately includes the definition of the word relatively well. It means that a person has an enormous urge to show himself. This often results in an exaggerated self-awareness and a highly sexualized behavior.
Apart from this psychological element, the word Histrione scarcely occurs in our linguistic usage and meets us only in old – rather ancient – texts.
