Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
droller
comparative form of droll
droller (plural drollers)
(obsolete) A jester.
• Dorrell
Source: Wiktionary
Droll"er, n.
Definition: A jester; a droll. [Obs.] Glanvill.
Droll, a. [Compar. Droller; superl. Drollest.] Etym: [F. drôle; cf. G. & D. drollig, LG. drullig, D. drol a thick and short person, a droll, Sw. troll a magical appearance, demon, trolla to use magic arts, enchant, Dan. trold elf, imp, Icel. tröll giant, magician, evil spirit, monster. If this is the origin, cf. Trull.]
Definition: Queer, and fitted to provoke laughter; ludicrous from oddity; amusing and strange.
Syn.
– Comic; comical; farcical; diverting; humorous; ridiculous; queer; odd; waggish; facetious; merry; laughable; ludicrous.
– Droll, Laughable, Comical. Laughable is the generic term, denoting anything exciting laughter or worthy of laughter; comical denotes something of the kind exhibited in comedies, something humorous of the kind exhibited in comedies, something, as it were, dramatically humorous; droll stands lower on the scale, having reference to persons or things which excite laughter by their buffoonery or oddity. A laughable incident; a comical adventure; a droll story.
Droll, n.
1. One whose practice it is to raise mirth by odd tricks; a jester; a buffoon; a merry-andrew. Prior.
2. Something exhibited to raise mirth or sport, as a puppet, a farce, and the like.
Droll, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Drolled; p. pr. & vb. n. Drolling.]
Definition: To jest; to play the buffoon. [R.]
Droll, v. t.
1. To lead or influence by jest or trick; to banter or jest; to cajole. Men that will not be reasoned into their senses, may yet be laughed or drolled into them. L'Estrange.
2. To make a jest of; to set in a comical light. [R.] This drolling everything is rather fatiguing. W. D. Howells.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
2 April 2025
(adjective) secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed; “covert actions by the CIA”; “covert funding for the rebels”
Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.