Yorick
/ˈjɒrɪk/
/ˈjɔːrɪk/
- a former court jester (= a man employed to amuse the king in the Middle Ages) whose skull is found by the men digging Ophelia's grave in Shakespeare's play Hamlet. Hamlet picks up the skull and makes a famous speech, which begins: “Alas, poor Yorick. I knew him, Horatio;A fellow of infinite jest …”