The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Juggler

JUGGLER (Old French, jangleur, Latin, joculator, joker, jester), a skilful and dexterous performer of feats of different lands, including slight of hand (legerdemain). The juggler is or was to be found in all lands. He was a favorite with the Greeks and the Romans, and has been, for centuries, with the Japanese and Chinese; and he has long been an institution in India, Further India, Persia and Tibet. The Aztecs and many other American native races had very skilful jugglers who seem to have been frequently connected with the religious or mythological beliefs of the peoples. Very skilful jugglers formed one of the most striking features of the elaborate court entertainments of Montezuma II, who was so fond of this sport that he had his own favorite private jugglers, some of whom were dwarfs and people otherwise deformed. See Legerdemain; Fakir; Fire-Eaters; Jongleur.