archimime

Definitions

noun The chief mime; the hero of the Roman low comedy; also, the chief buffoon at a Roman funeral. See mime.

noun The chief jester or mimic who would imitate the dead person as part of ancient Roman funeral processions.

From Latin archimimus, from Ancient Greek ἀρχίμῖμος (arkhimimos).

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word archimime.

The archimime, or jester, attending the funeral train, and imitating the speeches, gesture, and manners of the deceased, was too light for such solemnities, contradicting their funeral orations and doleful rites of the grave.

Hydriotaphia, or Urn-burial 2007
The archimime, or jester, attending the funeral train, and imitating the speeches, gesture, and manners of the deceased, was too light for such solemnities, contradicting their funeral orations and doleful rites of the grave.

Religio Medici, Hydriotaphia, and the Letter to a Friend 1643