Bar‧num, P.T. /ˈbɑːnəm $ ˈbɑːr-/
(1810–91) a US businessman who started the American Museum, where he charged people to look at strange-looking humans such as the first Siamese twins, Chang and Eng, and the midget (=a very small person), General Tom Thumb. He is known especially for starting a circus called The Greatest Show on Earth, and later the Barnum and Bailey Circus. He was one of the first businessmen to understand the importance of publicity and was famous for saying ‘There’s a sucker born every minute’.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲