E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Pantaloon.
A feeble-minded old man, the foil of the clown, whom he aids and abets in all his knavery. The word is derived from the dress he used to wear, a loose suit down to the heels.
1
“That Licentio that comes a-wooing is my man Tramo bearing my port, that we might beguile the old pantaloon.”—Shakespeare: Taming of the Shrew, iii. 1.
Pantaloon. Lord Byron says the Venetians were called the Planters of the Lion—i.e. the Lion of St. Mark, the standard of the republic; and further tells us that the character of “pantaloon,” being Venetian, was called Piantaleone (Planter of the Lion). (Childe Harold, bk. iv. stanza 14, note 9.)
2
Playing Pantaloon. Playing second fiddle, being the cat’s-paw of another; servilely imitating.
