/ˈɪdiət/, /ˈɪd͡ʒət/
OriginFrom Middle English idiote, ydiote, from Old French idiote (later idiot), from Latin idiota, from Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs, “a private citizen, one who has no professional knowledge, layman”), from ἴδιος (ídios, “one's own, pertaining to oneself, private”). Doublet of idiota. By surface analysis, idi- + -ot.
- obsoleteA person of the lowest intellectual standing, a person who lacks the capacity to develop beyond the mental age of a normal four-year-old; a person with an IQ below 30.
“Idiots were thought to be peculiarly under the care of the Deity, and it was believed that those who treated them kindly would be blessed.”
“It is an offence for a man to have unlawful sexual intercourse with a woman whom he knows to be an idiot or imbecile.”
Formsidiots(plural) · idjit(alternative, nonstandard) · idget(alternative, nonstandard) · eejit(alternative, Ireland, Scotland, nonstandard) · more idiot(comparative) · most idiot(superlative)