idiotn.adj.

Brit.

/ˈɪdɪət/, U.S.

/ˈɪdiət/

Forms: Middle English idyothe, Middle English ydiott, Middle English ydiotte, Middle English–1500s ideotte, Middle English–1500s idiott, Middle English–1500s idyote, Middle English–1500s ydeot, Middle English–1500s ydeote, Middle English–1500s ydeotte, Middle English–1500s ydiote, Middle English–1500s ydyot, Middle English–1500s ydyote, Middle English–1600s ideote, Middle English–1600s idiote, Middle English–1600s idyot, Middle English–1600s ydiot, Middle English–1800s ideot, Middle English– idiot, 1500s ediote, 1500s idiotte, 1600s ideott, 1600s idieot, 1800s idget (nonstandard); U.S. regional 1800s ijit, 1900s– ediot, 1900s– idjit, 1900s– iggiot, 1900s– ijjit, 1900s– ijjut; Scottish pre-1700 ideot, pre-1700 idiott, pre-1700 ydeot, pre-1700 ydeote, pre-1700 ydiot, pre-1700 1700s– idiot, 1800s idewit, 1800s idowit, 1800s idywit, 1900s– idiwut. See also eejit n., nidget n.¹, nidiot n.

Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Partly a borrowing from Greek. Etymons: French idiot; Latin idiōta; Greek ἰδιώτης.

Etymology: < (i) Anglo-Norman ideot, ideote, idyot, ydeot, Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French idiote, ydiote, Anglo-Norman and Middle French idiot, ydiot, ydeote (French idiot ) (noun) uneducated, ignorant person (1164), stupid person, mentally deficient person (c1374), (adjective) ignorant, uneducated (c1224), foolish, stupid, incapable of reasoning (c1300), (of behaviour, appearance, etc., of a person) characteristic of an idiot or idiocy (1612), and its etymons (ii) classical Latin idiōta (in post-classical Latin also ideota, ydeota, ydiota, etc.) ordinary person, layman, amateur, private individual, in post-classical Latin also recent convert (Vulgate), ignorant, uneducated person (early 3rd cent. in Tertullian), professional fool or jester (12th cent. in a British source), stupid person, mentally deficient person (from 13th cent. in British sources), and (iii) ancient Greek ἰδιώτης private person, person without professional knowledge, layman, ignorant, ill-informed person, in Hellenistic Greek also common man, plebeian < ἴδιος private, own, peculiar (see idio- comb. form) + -ώτης -ote suffix. Compare Catalan idiota (15th cent.), Spanish idiota (a1450; early 14th cent. as ydiota ), Portuguese idiota (first half of the 16th cent.; 15th cent. as yndiota ), Italian idiota (a1306 in sense ‘uneducated person’, a1388 in sense ‘stupid person’). The Latin word was also borrowed into other Germanic languages; compare e.g. Middle Dutch ydioot not fully developed person (c1330; Dutch idioot stupid person (1562 as †idioet )), Middle Low German īdeōt , īdiōt , German Idiot (early 16th cent. in sense ‘uneducated, ignorant person’, 18th cent. in sense ‘bungler’, 19th cent. in sense ‘stupid, intellectually subnormal person’ (which is now the usual sense, and is probably after English)), Swedish idiot (early 17th cent.). Compare idiota n., a later independent borrowing of the Latin noun.Compare eejit n., and (with metanalysis: see N n.) nidiot n., nidget n.¹ The latter shows assibilation of /dj/ to /dʒ/, which is also seen in the regional and nonstandard spelling idget.

A. n.

a. A person without learning; an ignorant, uneducated person; a simple or ordinary person. Now archaic and rare. [With reference to the Apostles (see quots. c1384, c1450) ultimately after ancient Greek ἰδιώτης in its specific sense ‘ignorant, layman’ (so in Acts 4:13, the passage translated in quot. c1384).]

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > [noun] > person

unwiteOE

buzzard1377

idiotc1384

ignorantc1450

unscholar1545

idiota1566

borowe1579

simple1600

ignoramus1616

ignoramo1623

ignaro1634

ingram1638

know-little1651

lack-latina1657

idiotist1715

know-nothing1812

Oscar1918

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Deeds iv. 13 Forsoth thei seynge the stedfastnesse of Petre and John, founden that thei weren men with oute lettris, and idiotis [a1425 L.V. men vnlettrid, and lewid men; L. homines..sine litteris et idiotæ], wondriden.

c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xvi. l. 170 (MED) I..ȝede forth as an ydiote in contre to aspye After Pieres þe plowman.

c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Katherine (Arun. 396) (1893) i. l. 288 (MED) Ryght as be twelue ydiotes, sent Austyn seyth—he meneth the apostellis, for thei not lerned were—Thurgh-ovte þe world was sowen ovr feyth.

1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 287/1 The bisshop repreuyd hym sore as unconnyng and an ydeote.

1549 T. Chaloner tr. Erasmus Praise of Folie 8 He preferred also the Ideote, and simple vulgars, before other learned and reputed persons.

1577 H. I. tr. H. Bullinger 50 Godlie Serm. I. i. iii. sig. B.iiij/2 A most common kind of speach, wherwithall euen the very idiotes were acquainted.

1606 Wily Beguilde 18 Hees a verie idiot and Browne bread Clowne.

1647 H. More Philos. Poems Pref. sig. B3^v It would be safer to ask the judgement of young lads or Countrey idiots..then those lubricous Wits and overworn Philosophers.

1657 (title) The deuine louer, or the sainctly ideots deuotions.

1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 374 I..confess my self an Ideot, understanding no other Language than Turkish.

1722 J. Covel Some Acct. Greek Church 353 There is also this very remarkable passage in the Cardinal; Idiotæ qui vident Picturas, Ideots who see these Pictures [etc.].

1906 Daily Chron. 6 Dec. 6/6 Mr. Hamilton Fyfe's use of ‘idiot’ to mean simply an ordinary man, in calling Shakespeare an ‘inspired idiot’, is unjustifiable in the twentieth century in which Mr. Fyfe happens to live.

b. †(a) A person without professional training or skill (obsolete); (b) a private (as opposed to a public) person, an inward-looking person (now rare).

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [noun] > bad or rough workmanship > unprofessionalism > person

idiota1400

amateur1767

unprofessional1830

society > authority > office > holder of office > [noun] > not

private1483

idiot1651

unofficial1833

non-official1860

a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 69 (MED) But þe modir of þat child sente for a lewde leche [L. layco]..Þanne a fisician..blamede þe modir & hir freendis þat þei hadden left counseil for þilke idiotis biheeste.

1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 75 If any one should bid an idiot take the instruments and mend what he blameth in the Artificers, he should never be able to doe it.

1651 Bp. J. Taylor Clerus Domini 54 In the form of Ideots and private persons.

1663 R. Boyle Some Considerations Usefulnesse Exper. Nat. Philos. i. 17 Idiots admire in things the Beauty of their Materials, but Artists that of the Workmanship.

1962 W. H. Auden Dyer's Hand (1963) 437 Next comes the social ‘idiot’ in the Greek sense, the individual whose life is as conditioned by one personal overriding interest as the conventional individual's is by social habit.

†c. spec. A layman. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > church government > laity > [noun] > member of

worldhoodeOE

man of the worlda1225

secularc1425

idiot?c1430

layman?a1475

lay?1533

beardling1568

laic1596

terrestrial1602

layperson1972

?c1430 (c1400) Rule St. Francis (Corpus Cambr.) in F. D. Matthew Eng. Wks. Wyclif (1880) 46 We dwelten to-gidre in chirchis, & weren idiotis & vnderloute to ale men.

1611 H. Goodier in T. Coryate Crudities sig. c6 For he would not Take orders, but remaine an Idiote.

1638 D. Featley Stricturæ in Lyndomastygem i. 158 in H. Lynde Case for Spectacles That hee that supplieth the place of the idiot or laye-man in answering for the people shall understand.

1660 Bp. J. Taylor Ductor Dubitantium I. i. ii. Rule 2 §5 The holy and innocent ideot, or plain easy people of the Laity.

a. Chiefly Law and Psychiatry. A person so profoundly disabled in mental function or intellect as to be incapable of ordinary acts of reasoning or rational conduct; spec. a person permanently so affected, as distinguished from one with a temporary severe mental illness. Now historical in technical use.By the older legal authorities in England an idiot was defined as a person congenitally deficient in reasoning powers (cf. quot. 1590), and this remained for a long time the common implication of the term.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > mental deficiency > [noun] > person

congeonc1285

idiota1400

foola1425

natural foolc1450

natural idiot1497

natural1533

changeling1577

weakling1577

mooncalf1586

slimslack1600

aufe1621

oaf1638

weak-wit1656

underwit1682

imbecile1830

ament1871

unfortunate1881

balmy1903

subnormal1905

deficient1906

retard1909

retardate1912

retarded1912

mopoke1946

retardee1956

mong1980

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 10456 Þou sais to me als til a sott, Haldes þou me for ani idiot [Gött. a fole]?

c1415 (c1395) G. Chaucer Wife of Bath's Tale (Corpus Oxf.) (1872) Prol. l. 311 Wenestow make an ydyot of oure dame?

c1425 Bk. Found. St. Bartholomew's (1923) 13 (MED) He made and feyned hym-self vnwyse..and owtward pretendid the cheyr of an ydiotte.

Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 258/2 Idyote, nether fowle ne ryghte wyce [?a1475 Winch. Idyothe, 1499 Pynson Idyote, halfe innocent], idiota.

1549 T. Chaloner tr. Erasmus Praise of Folie sig. Gij This kynde of men whom commenly ye call fooles, doltes, ideotes, and paches [L. quos uulgo moriones, stultos, fatuos, ac bliteos appellant].

1578 J. Banister Hist. Man viii. f. 98 ^v Idiotes and foolish bodyes, who hauyng defect in this [sc. reason], are lame in all the rest.

1590 H. Swinburne Briefe Treat. Test. & Willes ii. f. 39 An Idiote, or a naturall foole is he, who notwithstanding he bee of lawfull age, yet he is so witlesse, that hee can not number to twentie, nor can tell what age he is of, nor knoweth who is his father, or mother, nor is able to answer to any such easie question.

1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 56 They haue..naturall idiots, in high veneration; as men rauished in spirit, and taken from themselues, as it were, to the fellowship of Angels.

1628 E. Coke 1st Pt. Inst. Lawes Eng. i. 135 b When an Ideot doth sue or defend, he shall not appeare by Gardeine or Procheine Amy.

1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. xi. 71 Idiots make very few or no Propositions, and reason scarce at all.

1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Gard or Guard..In a Law-sense Guardianship or Management of Children under Age or Idiots.

1735 B. Motte in Swift's Lett. (1768) IV. 107 An Hospital for Lunaticks and Idiots.

1793 T. Holcroft tr. J. C. Lavater Ess. Physiognomy (abridged ed.) lii. 247 Who can explain wherein consists the difference of organization between an ideot and another man?

1847 A. Trollope Macdermots III. xi. 424 Larry was..then, and always afterwards a confirmed idiot.

1868 Stephen's New Comm. Laws Eng. (ed. 6) II. ii. ii. v. 63 Persons insane (in which class are..to be included idiots who have had no understanding from their birth, as well as lunatics who..have lost the use of their reason).

1893 Westm. Gaz. 19 Apr. 2/3 Idiots, especially microcephales, have flattened retreating foreheads.

1937 Arch. Neurol. & Psychiatry (Chicago) 38 731 Onufrowicz first described this fiber stratum as the occipitofrontal fasciculus in the brain of a microcephalic idiot.

1997 A. Dewdney Yes we have no Neutrons ii. 32 One level above imbeciles, morons occupied a gray area between idiots and imbeciles on the one hand, and fully competent people on the other.

b. A person who speaks or acts in what the speaker considers an irrational way, or with extreme stupidity or foolishness.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > person of weak intellect > [noun] > idiot, crazy person

Jack foolc1405

drivel1478

idiotc1480

nidiot1533

hare-brain1542

hare-copa1566

nidget1579

lunatic1602

flight-head1605

moonling1631

driveller1682

tomfool1683

niddy-noddy1722

imbecile1781

puggle1783

gype1825

eejit1853

nowmun1854

dinlo1873

loon1885

ratbag1890

doughbakea1895

ding-a-ling1899

feeb1914

dingbat1915

bodoh1922

diddy1933

Nimrod1933

pranny1949

momo1953

head-the-ball1958

flake1968

fuckwit1969

tattie-bogle1969

div1975

tube1975

wazzock1976

gonzo1977

motorhead1979

prannet1979

twonk1981

dough ball1983

numpty1985

divvy1987

c1480 (a1400) St. Theodora 148 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 103 Wenand I ware sic a ydiot, þat þu suld wit my priuete.

1547 Certain Serm. or Homilies sig. Tj^v Shall I be suche an idiot and diserde to suffre euery man to speake vpon me, what thei list.

?1555 M. Coverdale tr. O. Werdmueller Treat. Death iii. iii. 210 O thou great ydiote, thou lamentest, that thy name and honoure perysheth in thys transytorye worlde.

1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) II. 1474/2 O most idiote huddypeakes and blockishe condemners.

1620 T. Granger Syntagma Logicum 381 Many obdurate Popish Idiotes say, that all things are so deare..because there is so much preaching.

1668 T. Shadwell Sullen Lovers iii. 32 I am an Ass, an Ideot, a Blockhead and a Rascal, if I don't understand Drammatique Poetry of all things in the World; why this is the onely thing I am esteem'd for in England.

1713 J. Addison Trial of Ct. Tariff He called them ideots and blockheads.

a1734 R. North Examen (1740) ii. v. 324 The Faction..had found a sarcasmous Name to fling upon the Loyallists,..that of Tory, the same as savage Brute and Idiot.

1761 G. Colman Jealous Wife ii. ii. 29 Sure You imagine Me an Ideot, a Driveller.

1768 Woman of Honor I. 151 They dare not break herd, afraid of the ridicule of idiots for not resembling them.

1796 Bp. R. Watson Apol. for Bible 283 He would have been an ideot, had he put it in the power of his enemies to prove [etc.].

1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge li. 231 You idiot, do you know what peril you stand in?

1892 Cassell's Family Mag. Dec. 11/1 Hold your tongues, you blathering idiots.

1922 ‘R. Crompton’ Just—William i. 26 What the deu—why the dickens is the young idiot coming at this time of day?

1956 T. Williams Let. 10 Jan. in Five O'Clock Angel (1991) 131 And when I remonstrated mildly over a bit of business in rehearsal, she turned on me with a fury and shouted, ‘Shut up, idiot!’

2002 J. Thompson Wide Blue Yonder ii. 121 Now she'd ruined everything by being an idiot.

†3. A man of low intelligence maintained as a source of amusement to others; a household or court fool; a professional fool or jester. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > performance of jester or comedian > [noun] > jester or comedian

jugglerc1175

foolc1300

jangler1303

fool sagec1330

ribald1340

ape-ward1362

japer1377

sage fool1377

harlotc1390

disporter?a1475

jocular?a1475

joculatora1500

jester?1518

idiot1526

scoffer1530

sporter1531

dizzardc1540

vice1552

antic1564

bauble-bearer1568

scoggin1579

buffoon1584

pleasant1595

zany1596

baladine1599

clown1600

fiddle1600

mimic1601

ape-carrier1615

mime1616

mime-man1631

merry man1648

tomfool1650

pickle-herring1656

badine1670

puddingc1675

merry-andrew1677

mimical1688

Tom Tram1688

Monaghan1689

pickled herring1711

ethologist1727

court-foola1797

Tom1817

mimer1819

fun-maker1835

funny man1839

mimester1846

comic1857

comedian1860

jokesman1882

comique1886

Joey1896

tummler1938

alternative comedian1981

Andrew-

1526 Will of Thomas Goldisburgh (P.R.O.: PROB. 11/22) f. 40 To Richard Carlton my Idyot.

1586 G. Whitney Choice of Emblemes i. 81 The ideot likes, with bables for to plaie.

1625 W. Lisle tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Noe in tr. Part of Du Bartas 41 Fooles, idiots, jesters, anticks, wranglers, and suche copes-mates as of naught-worth are suddenly start vp.

1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 47. ¶2 Ideots are still in Request in most of the Courts of Germany, where there is not a Prince of any great Magnificence who has not two or three dress'd, distinguish'd, undisputed Fools in his Retinue.

1751 Earl of Orrery Remarks Swift (1752) xxi. 262 In former ages the courts of France and England were not thought compleatly embellished without a favourite idiot.

1773 J. Pechell Hist. Univ. Oxf. to Demise Queen Elizabeth 146 Gascoin mentions, at this time, a certain idiot, or jester, the son of a great man, who was, at twelve years old, archdeacon of Oxford.

B. adj. (attributive).

1. That is an idiot; profoundly mentally and intellectually disabled; exceedingly stupid.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > [adjective] > idiotic

fonda1400

idiotc1400

idiotish1544

idiotly1581

idiotical1656

idiotic1659

imbecile1778

gypit1804

cretinist1858

cretinous1871

imbecilic1872

bodoh1873

dinlo1907

boob1911

pointy-headed1950

fuckwitted1973

divvy1975

fuckwit1979

numpty1992

c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xi. l. 308 (MED) Ignorancia non excusat episcopos nec idiotes prestes.

1562 W. Bullein Bk. Use Sicke Men f. lxix^v, in Bulwarke of Defence Chaunged into ideotte fooles.

1606 Wily Beguilde 31 Your father is too cruell, To..seeke to wed you to an Idiot foole That knowes not how to vse himselfe.

1647 H. More Philos. Poems i. ii. lv A private idiot man.

1762 O. Goldsmith Citizen of World II. lxxxix. 116 Yet ideot man laughs, sings, and rejoices in the very face of the sun, and seems no way touched with his situation.

1798 W. Wordsworth in W. Wordsworth & S. T. Coleridge Lyrical Ballads 149 (title) The idiot boy.

1809 Ld. Byron Eng. Bards & Sc. Reviewers 248 The tale of Betty Foy, The idiot mother of ‘an idiot boy’.

1889 W. Morris in J. W. Mackail Life W. Morris (1899) II. 221 There were some beautiful willows, and now the idiot Parson has polled them into wretched stumps.

1926 H. Crane Let. 19 Aug. (1965) 273 I have made up a kind of friendship with that idiot boy... He is rendingly beautiful at times.

1981 S. Rushdie Midnight's Children 338 The idiot child, they put him in the Army to make a man of him!

2002 N.Y. Times 10 Nov. ii. 36/3 They came to view me like someone's idiot grandmother up in the attic.

2. Of, relating to, or characteristic of an idiot or idiocy, idiotic.

ΚΠ

1600 T. Dekker Old Fortunatus sig. I^v Call this madnes in, see from the windowes Of euery eye Derision thrusts out cheekes, Wrinckled with Idiot laughter.

a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iii. iii. 46 Making that idiot laughter keepe mens eyes, And straine their cheekes to idle merriment.

1646 Conscience Caution'd 10 I would not for Millions, nor for Idiot fantasticall honours,..beslave and vassalize my Posterity to immence Tyranny, and unbounded folly.

1700 J. Dryden tr. G. Boccaccio Cymon & Iphigenia in Fables 545 Long mute he stood, and..His Wonder witness'd with an Ideot laugh.

1709 Ld. Shaftesbury Sensus Communis: Ess. Freedom of Wit 105 Why does an Idiot-Look and Manner destroy the Effect of all those outward Charms?

1763 C. Churchill Epist. to W. Hogarth 30 To drivel out whole years of Ideot breath.

1827 T. Hood Plea Midsummer Fairies xciv, in Plea Midsummer Fairies & Other Poems 48 To hope my solemn countenance to wring To idiot smiles!

1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems xxxvii. 6 Or if in idiot impotence arow you sit.

1885 R. L. Stevenson & F. Stevenson Dynamiter xiii. 196 When I look upon your idiot face..the tears spring up.

1922 W. J. Locke Tale of Triona xiii. 142 She..was driven by she knew not what idiot romanticalism into the grey worries of wifehood and motherhood.

1957 J. Frame Owls do Cry xxxviii. 171 Gaping idiot mouth waterfalled with slobber.

2006 C. Frazier Thirteen Moons ii. ii. 39 On idiot impulse, with no prior thought whatsoever, I did as I had seen an older boy do.

Compounds

C1. Similative, objective, and parasynthetic, as idiot-dull, idiot-faced, idiot-worshipper, etc.

ΚΠ

1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida v. i. 7 Thou picture of what thou seemest, and Idoll, Of idiot worshippers.

1845 C. Norton Child of Islands 152 Blind! and adder-deaf, —and idiot-dull.

1989 N. Cave And Ass saw Angel iii. 171 Ah've sat on mah dumb ass and listened through eighteen million ticks and eighteen million tocks of the idiot-faced clock.

C2.

idiot asylum n. now offensive (archaic or historical) a hospital for the mentally ill or mentally and intellectually disabled.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > healing > places for the sick or injured > [noun] > hospital or infirmary > hospital for the mentally ill

bedlam-house1525

dull-house1622

madhouse1649

bedlam1663

lunatic hospital1762

asylum1776

retreat1796

lunatic house1813

lunatic asylum1828

maison de santé1843

idiot asylum1848

rat house1854

bughouse1887

Colney Hatch1891

booby hatch1896

mental hospital1898

booby house1900

nut factory1900

nut collegec1906

nuthouse1906

monkey house1910

booby-hutch1914

nuttery1915

loony bin1919

nut hatch1928

silly house1930

bin1938

snake-pit1947

funny farm1950

1848 Times 31 Mar. 5/6 The circle of charitable institutions in this country was completed by the establishment of the Idiot Asylum.

1866 J. Macgregor Thousand Miles in Rob Roy Canoe (ed. 2) vi. 104 Close to the inn was the idiot asylum, an old castle with poor demented women in it.

1880 ‘M. Twain’ Tramp Abroad xxv. 257 They meant an asylum—an idiot asylum.

1991 Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) (Nexis) 16 Aug. The lot's bounded by a stone wall that dates to the 19th century ‘idiot asylum’ up there on the hill.

idiot board n. colloquial a prompting board, especially one held in front of a television speaker but not projected on the film.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > memory > retention in the mind > improvement of memory, mnemonics > [noun] > memory aid > prompting board

idiot board1952

idiot sheet1952

cue card1954

memory board1955

idiot card1957

1952 Newsweek 4 Aug. 51/2 The Republicans and the Democrats got their ‘idiot boards’ free.

1971 Radio Times 4 Nov. 6/4 I can never work with an auto-cue or idiot board. I learn my lines before the show.

1993 S. Noreiko in C. Sanders French Today ix. 178 Idiot-boards and autocues ‘prompt’, but this anglicism is meaningless in French.

2007 Express (Nexis) 6 Feb. 10 He sang some of his classics... The slightly embarrassing thing was that he had to have the words printed out on an idiot board in front of him in large size type.

idiot box n. colloquial (a) an encased mechanism that provides helpful information or performs simple operations; (b) a television set.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > broadcasting > television > transmitting or receiving apparatus > [noun] > television set

television set1924

television1929

home video1949

TV1949

box1950

transistor set1953

telly1954

idiot box1955

monitor1957

boob tube1959

goggle-box1959

transportable1959

the tube1959

portable1960

set1961

widescreen1982

1955 European Stars & Stripes (Darmstadt, Germany) 1 Dec. 10/1 A good friend of..pilots at the Hanau airstrip is a blue and yellow monster known affectionately as the ‘idiot box’.

1957 Daily Rec. (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 8 Jan. 4/8 Author David Chandler refers to his tv set as ‘The Idiot Box’.

1965 Lancet 2 Jan. 46/2 Often they may be found, in semi-hypnotic state, watching the ‘idiot box’ with its endless stream of images and fullness of sound, all signifying nothing.

1973 Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 211 282 We assume that the modern general purpose computer is an idiot-box capable of performing only the simplest of routines.

2004 S. Coonts Liars & Thieves (2005) xiii. 142 When the broadcast was over I flipped off the idiot box.

idiot card n. colloquial = idiot board n.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > memory > retention in the mind > improvement of memory, mnemonics > [noun] > memory aid > prompting board

idiot board1952

idiot sheet1952

cue card1954

memory board1955

idiot card1957

1957 Sat. Evening Post 7 Sept. 64 William Maitland goggled a moment like a TV performer caught without his idiot cards.

1969 New Yorker 27 Sept. 86/3 We had all the written questions put on idiot cards, and then the people read them before the camera.

2000 Times (Nexis) 16 Feb. (Features section) Signor Prodi seemed to have such intellectual confidence in his case that he was happy to wing it without aides, idiot cards or autocue.

idiot fringe n. (a) a woman's or girl's hair worn in a fringe (archaic slang); (b) = lunatic fringe n. at lunatic adj. and n. Compounds 2; also attributive.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > styles of hair > [noun] > fringe

taure1688

Grecian fringe1876

bang1878

idiot fringe1879

1879 M. Dartt On Plains 8 The tall woman in the linen duster, and the short one in the white finger-puffs, and the young one in the idiot fringe [etc.].

1923 J. Manchon Le Slang 130 Fringe, le devant des cheveux dans la coiffure à la chien (habituelle chez les femmes de la basse classe). On dit aussi idiot-fringe.

1929 Times 21 Sept. 6/2 We have..an idiot fringe of rich fools who come to Europe and squander their money in all sorts of ways.

1965 Spectator 5 Mar. 286/1 An article on a small and dying idiot-fringe sect of nationalists in North Germany.

2006 Calgary (Alberta) Herald (Nexis) 21 Oct. a29 The danger..can..be minimized by having better lane markings and more severe penalties imposed upon speeders and the idiot fringe who appear to have no road sense.

idiot light n. colloquial a warning light, usually red, that goes on when a fault occurs in a mechanical or electrical device.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > warning of imminent danger or evil > [noun] > device for warning > light on machinery, etc.

warning light1937

idiot light1968

1968 ‘E. McGirr’ Lead-lined Coffin iii. 173 He watched the idiot lights in the dashboard..for the warning red which would betoken he had lost the oil.

1984 M. A. Jarman Dancing nightly in Tavern 23 The engine overheating on the Church Road, the idiot light blinking red as they travel south through the pale fields of rock..his silent father, worried, pulling the shining car under the Timber Trail Ranch sign to have the oil checked.

2005 Hot Bike Mar. 148/1 I checked the location of the idiot lights, inspected the gauges and speedometer.

idiot-proof adj. = foolproof adj., especially of equipment.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > easiness > [adjective] > not complex > specific

idiot-proof1924

simple-to-follow1938

the world > action or operation > safety > [adjective] > safe or not dangerous > specific

foolproof1874

childproof1889

idiot-proof1924

fail-safe1948

1924 C. Van Doren Many Minds iii. 212 This creed of vitality can not be held to equip the critic with any idiot-proof formula for estimating works of art.

1977 Economist 8 Oct. 90/2 Viewdata's image could be bungled if the equipment proves not to be idiot-proof.

2007 Daily Tel. 6 Apr. 26/4 With the aid of a Reader's Digest idiot-proof guide to domestic repairs and an expensively purchased slate ripper, he set about the task with gusto.

† idiot's hood n. Obsolete a fool's cap.

ΚΠ

1600 T. Dekker Old Fortunatus sig. C4 Why hast thou borrowed then that Idiots hood?

1639 J. Woodall Viaticum Pref. sig. ¶2^v, in Surgeons Mate (rev. ed.) He that's wise in his owne conceit, puts on the Idiots hood.

idiot sheet n. colloquial = idiot board n.; also: a sheet of paper with a similar function.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > memory > retention in the mind > improvement of memory, mnemonics > [noun] > memory aid > prompting board

idiot board1952

idiot sheet1952

cue card1954

memory board1955

idiot card1957

1952 Changing Times Mar. 34 That blizzard head in the new strip show was looking so hard at the idiot sheet that she bumped into the gobo and made a big womp.

1962 R. Bretz Techniques Television Production 487 When cue cards first came into use for full script purposes, they were known derisively as ‘idiot sheets’.

1996 Weekend Austral. (Brisbane) (Nexis) 10 Aug. 48 Many of television's most celebrated names are utter dimwits, entirely dependent on the autocue, the prompting voice in the earpiece, the idiot sheets waving beneath the lens.

2001 J. Vigor Seaworthy Offshore Sailboat ii. ix. 107 That's where an idiot sheet can be of such great help. Simply note all the steps you take in working out a sight and write them down on one page with spaces for all your observations and reckonings.

idiot stick n. U.S. slang a shovel.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > equipment > digging or lifting tools > [noun] > shovel

shovelc725

scoop1844

spader1867

banjo1918

idiot stick1930

1930 G. Williams Logger-talk 25 Idiot stick, a shovel.

1992 Calgary (Alberta) Herald (Nexis) 1 Feb. c1 Coaching beats hell out of the graveyard shift on an idiot stick on Interstate 29. ‘When you shovel gravel on road construction [etc.]’.

idiot stitch n. a type of crochet worked back and forth in rows, using a longer hook than in standard crochet onto which all the stitches for the row are picked up before being worked off again, creating a thick, dense fabric; now usually called Tunisian crochet (see Tunisian n. and adj. Additions).

ΚΠ

1882 S. F. A. Caulfeild & B. C. Saward Dict. Needlework 263/2 Idiot Stitch. One of the names given to Tricot Stitch.

1982 P. Earnshaw Dict. Lace 31 An enormous number of [chain] stitch variations is possible,..and their names include Idiot Stitch, Hollow Spot, Josephine Tricot, Double Knot and Raised Loop.

2004 Piecework Jan.–Feb. 60/2 A Long List of Aliases—Tunisian knitting, hakning (Swedish for ‘hooking’), Afghan stitch, idiot stitch, railway stitch, fool stitch, [etc.].

idiot string n. North American colloquial (chiefly Canadian) a length of wool or string connecting a pair of mittens or gloves to prevent their loss, typically worn around the shoulders or (esp. by children) threaded through the sleeves and across the inside back of a coat; (in later use also more generally) any length of material attached to an item (esp. a pair of glasses) which can then be worn around the neck or fixed to a person's clothing, to prevent the item being lost.

ΚΠ

1967 Courier-Crescent (Orrville, Ohio) 22 Nov. 4/4 A very kind neighbor..knitted a half-dozen ‘idiot strings’ to keep the kids' mittens together.

1984 Lethbridge (Alberta) Herald 14 Aug. a 1/6 City Economic Development Director..investing in an ‘idiot string’ to hang his glasses round his neck after getting tired of losing and dropping them.

2019 @Darbmilne 22 Mar. in twitter.com (accessed 5 Apr. 2020) For someone who misplaces his wallet with shocking frequency I should probably wear it attached to an idiot string around my neck.

Derivatives

ˈidiot-like adj. and adv.

ΚΠ

a1603 T. Cartwright Confut. Rhemists New Test. (1618) 662 A childish and idiotelike pole.

1612 S. Rowlands Knaue of Harts B b My Stockings Ideot-like, red, greene, and yealow.

1752 G. A. Stevens Distress upon Distress ii. 87 He cries to change, and sighs for other Toys, Ideot-like dotes, or Savage-like destroys.

1818 Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 33 288 They, ideot-like, stand staring and sucking their fingers.

1864 Ld. Tennyson Enoch Arden in Enoch Arden, etc. 35 Muttering and mumbling, idiotlike it seem'd.

1892 A. Bierce Tales of Soldiers & Civilians 189 Its horrible head..was directed straight toward him, the definition of the wide, brutal jaw and the idiot-like forehead serving to show the direction of its malevolent gaze.

1897 O. Wilde Let. 28 May in De Profundis (2005) 137 Sometimes he would grin idiot-like to himself and make faces.

1960 A. E. Nourse Star Surgeon ix. 108 A fading away of intelligent responses, leaving thousands of creatures walking blank-faced and idiot-like about the streets and countryside.

1991 N. M. Lippit & K. I. Selden tr. K. Taeko Japanese Women Writers 120 A child who can automatically do what she is told—an idiot-like child—even her face must look like an idiot's.

1993 Sat. Evening Post (Nexis) 1 July Naomi managed a weak smile, an idiot-like grin the kids had never seen before.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	idiot
释义	idiotn.adj. Brit. /ˈɪdɪət/, U.S. /ˈɪdiət/ Forms: Middle English idyothe, Middle English ydiott, Middle English ydiotte, Middle English–1500s ideotte, Middle English–1500s idiott, Middle English–1500s idyote, Middle English–1500s ydeot, Middle English–1500s ydeote, Middle English–1500s ydeotte, Middle English–1500s ydiote, Middle English–1500s ydyot, Middle English–1500s ydyote, Middle English–1600s ideote, Middle English–1600s idiote, Middle English–1600s idyot, Middle English–1600s ydiot, Middle English–1800s ideot, Middle English– idiot, 1500s ediote, 1500s idiotte, 1600s ideott, 1600s idieot, 1800s idget (nonstandard); U.S. regional 1800s ijit, 1900s– ediot, 1900s– idjit, 1900s– iggiot, 1900s– ijjit, 1900s– ijjut; Scottish pre-1700 ideot, pre-1700 idiott, pre-1700 ydeot, pre-1700 ydeote, pre-1700 ydiot, pre-1700 1700s– idiot, 1800s idewit, 1800s idowit, 1800s idywit, 1900s– idiwut. See also eejit n., nidget n.¹, nidiot n. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Partly a borrowing from Greek. Etymons: French idiot; Latin idiōta; Greek ἰδιώτης. Etymology: < (i) Anglo-Norman ideot, ideote, idyot, ydeot, Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French idiote, ydiote, Anglo-Norman and Middle French idiot, ydiot, ydeote (French idiot ) (noun) uneducated, ignorant person (1164), stupid person, mentally deficient person (c1374), (adjective) ignorant, uneducated (c1224), foolish, stupid, incapable of reasoning (c1300), (of behaviour, appearance, etc., of a person) characteristic of an idiot or idiocy (1612), and its etymons (ii) classical Latin idiōta (in post-classical Latin also ideota, ydeota, ydiota, etc.) ordinary person, layman, amateur, private individual, in post-classical Latin also recent convert (Vulgate), ignorant, uneducated person (early 3rd cent. in Tertullian), professional fool or jester (12th cent. in a British source), stupid person, mentally deficient person (from 13th cent. in British sources), and (iii) ancient Greek ἰδιώτης private person, person without professional knowledge, layman, ignorant, ill-informed person, in Hellenistic Greek also common man, plebeian < ἴδιος private, own, peculiar (see idio- comb. form) + -ώτης -ote suffix. Compare Catalan idiota (15th cent.), Spanish idiota (a1450; early 14th cent. as ydiota ), Portuguese idiota (first half of the 16th cent.; 15th cent. as yndiota ), Italian idiota (a1306 in sense ‘uneducated person’, a1388 in sense ‘stupid person’). The Latin word was also borrowed into other Germanic languages; compare e.g. Middle Dutch ydioot not fully developed person (c1330; Dutch idioot stupid person (1562 as †idioet )), Middle Low German īdeōt , īdiōt , German Idiot (early 16th cent. in sense ‘uneducated, ignorant person’, 18th cent. in sense ‘bungler’, 19th cent. in sense ‘stupid, intellectually subnormal person’ (which is now the usual sense, and is probably after English)), Swedish idiot (early 17th cent.). Compare idiota n., a later independent borrowing of the Latin noun.Compare eejit n., and (with metanalysis: see N n.) nidiot n., nidget n.¹ The latter shows assibilation of /dj/ to /dʒ/, which is also seen in the regional and nonstandard spelling idget. A. n. 1. a. A person without learning; an ignorant, uneducated person; a simple or ordinary person. Now archaic and rare. [With reference to the Apostles (see quots. c1384, c1450) ultimately after ancient Greek ἰδιώτης in its specific sense ‘ignorant, layman’ (so in Acts 4:13, the passage translated in quot. c1384).] ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > [noun] > person unwiteOE buzzard1377 idiotc1384 ignorantc1450 unscholar1545 idiota1566 borowe1579 simple1600 ignoramus1616 ignoramo1623 ignaro1634 ingram1638 know-little1651 lack-latina1657 idiotist1715 know-nothing1812 Oscar1918 c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Deeds iv. 13 Forsoth thei seynge the stedfastnesse of Petre and John, founden that thei weren men with oute lettris, and idiotis [a1425 L.V. men vnlettrid, and lewid men; L. homines..sine litteris et idiotæ], wondriden. c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xvi. l. 170 (MED) I..ȝede forth as an ydiote in contre to aspye After Pieres þe plowman. c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Katherine (Arun. 396) (1893) i. l. 288 (MED) Ryght as be twelue ydiotes, sent Austyn seyth—he meneth the apostellis, for thei not lerned were—Thurgh-ovte þe world was sowen ovr feyth. 1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 287/1 The bisshop repreuyd hym sore as unconnyng and an ydeote. 1549 T. Chaloner tr. Erasmus Praise of Folie 8 He preferred also the Ideote, and simple vulgars, before other learned and reputed persons. 1577 H. I. tr. H. Bullinger 50 Godlie Serm. I. i. iii. sig. B.iiij/2 A most common kind of speach, wherwithall euen the very idiotes were acquainted. 1606 Wily Beguilde 18 Hees a verie idiot and Browne bread Clowne. 1647 H. More Philos. Poems Pref. sig. B3^v It would be safer to ask the judgement of young lads or Countrey idiots..then those lubricous Wits and overworn Philosophers. 1657 (title) The deuine louer, or the sainctly ideots deuotions. 1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 374 I..confess my self an Ideot, understanding no other Language than Turkish. 1722 J. Covel Some Acct. Greek Church 353 There is also this very remarkable passage in the Cardinal; Idiotæ qui vident Picturas, Ideots who see these Pictures [etc.]. 1906 Daily Chron. 6 Dec. 6/6 Mr. Hamilton Fyfe's use of ‘idiot’ to mean simply an ordinary man, in calling Shakespeare an ‘inspired idiot’, is unjustifiable in the twentieth century in which Mr. Fyfe happens to live. b. †(a) A person without professional training or skill (obsolete); (b) a private (as opposed to a public) person, an inward-looking person (now rare). ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [noun] > bad or rough workmanship > unprofessionalism > person idiota1400 amateur1767 unprofessional1830 society > authority > office > holder of office > [noun] > not private1483 idiot1651 unofficial1833 non-official1860 a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 69 (MED) But þe modir of þat child sente for a lewde leche [L. layco]..Þanne a fisician..blamede þe modir & hir freendis þat þei hadden left counseil for þilke idiotis biheeste. 1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 75 If any one should bid an idiot take the instruments and mend what he blameth in the Artificers, he should never be able to doe it. 1651 Bp. J. Taylor Clerus Domini 54 In the form of Ideots and private persons. 1663 R. Boyle Some Considerations Usefulnesse Exper. Nat. Philos. i. 17 Idiots admire in things the Beauty of their Materials, but Artists that of the Workmanship. 1962 W. H. Auden Dyer's Hand (1963) 437 Next comes the social ‘idiot’ in the Greek sense, the individual whose life is as conditioned by one personal overriding interest as the conventional individual's is by social habit. †c. spec. A layman. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > faith > church government > laity > [noun] > member of worldhoodeOE man of the worlda1225 secularc1425 idiot?c1430 layman?a1475 lay?1533 beardling1568 laic1596 terrestrial1602 layperson1972 ?c1430 (c1400) Rule St. Francis (Corpus Cambr.) in F. D. Matthew Eng. Wks. Wyclif (1880) 46 We dwelten to-gidre in chirchis, & weren idiotis & vnderloute to ale men. 1611 H. Goodier in T. Coryate Crudities sig. c6 For he would not Take orders, but remaine an Idiote. 1638 D. Featley Stricturæ in Lyndomastygem i. 158 in H. Lynde Case for Spectacles That hee that supplieth the place of the idiot or laye-man in answering for the people shall understand. 1660 Bp. J. Taylor Ductor Dubitantium I. i. ii. Rule 2 §5 The holy and innocent ideot, or plain easy people of the Laity. 2. a. Chiefly Law and Psychiatry. A person so profoundly disabled in mental function or intellect as to be incapable of ordinary acts of reasoning or rational conduct; spec. a person permanently so affected, as distinguished from one with a temporary severe mental illness. Now historical in technical use.By the older legal authorities in England an idiot was defined as a person congenitally deficient in reasoning powers (cf. quot. 1590), and this remained for a long time the common implication of the term. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > mental deficiency > [noun] > person congeonc1285 idiota1400 foola1425 natural foolc1450 natural idiot1497 natural1533 changeling1577 weakling1577 mooncalf1586 slimslack1600 aufe1621 oaf1638 weak-wit1656 underwit1682 imbecile1830 ament1871 unfortunate1881 balmy1903 subnormal1905 deficient1906 retard1909 retardate1912 retarded1912 mopoke1946 retardee1956 mong1980 a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 10456 Þou sais to me als til a sott, Haldes þou me for ani idiot [Gött. a fole]? c1415 (c1395) G. Chaucer Wife of Bath's Tale (Corpus Oxf.) (1872) Prol. l. 311 Wenestow make an ydyot of oure dame? c1425 Bk. Found. St. Bartholomew's (1923) 13 (MED) He made and feyned hym-self vnwyse..and owtward pretendid the cheyr of an ydiotte. Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 258/2 Idyote, nether fowle ne ryghte wyce [?a1475 Winch. Idyothe, 1499 Pynson Idyote, halfe innocent], idiota. 1549 T. Chaloner tr. Erasmus Praise of Folie sig. Gij This kynde of men whom commenly ye call fooles, doltes, ideotes, and paches [L. quos uulgo moriones, stultos, fatuos, ac bliteos appellant]. 1578 J. Banister Hist. Man viii. f. 98 ^v Idiotes and foolish bodyes, who hauyng defect in this [sc. reason], are lame in all the rest. 1590 H. Swinburne Briefe Treat. Test. & Willes ii. f. 39 An Idiote, or a naturall foole is he, who notwithstanding he bee of lawfull age, yet he is so witlesse, that hee can not number to twentie, nor can tell what age he is of, nor knoweth who is his father, or mother, nor is able to answer to any such easie question. 1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 56 They haue..naturall idiots, in high veneration; as men rauished in spirit, and taken from themselues, as it were, to the fellowship of Angels. 1628 E. Coke 1st Pt. Inst. Lawes Eng. i. 135 b When an Ideot doth sue or defend, he shall not appeare by Gardeine or Procheine Amy. 1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. xi. 71 Idiots make very few or no Propositions, and reason scarce at all. 1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Gard or Guard..In a Law-sense Guardianship or Management of Children under Age or Idiots. 1735 B. Motte in Swift's Lett. (1768) IV. 107 An Hospital for Lunaticks and Idiots. 1793 T. Holcroft tr. J. C. Lavater Ess. Physiognomy (abridged ed.) lii. 247 Who can explain wherein consists the difference of organization between an ideot and another man? 1847 A. Trollope Macdermots III. xi. 424 Larry was..then, and always afterwards a confirmed idiot. 1868 Stephen's New Comm. Laws Eng. (ed. 6) II. ii. ii. v. 63 Persons insane (in which class are..to be included idiots who have had no understanding from their birth, as well as lunatics who..have lost the use of their reason). 1893 Westm. Gaz. 19 Apr. 2/3 Idiots, especially microcephales, have flattened retreating foreheads. 1937 Arch. Neurol. & Psychiatry (Chicago) 38 731 Onufrowicz first described this fiber stratum as the occipitofrontal fasciculus in the brain of a microcephalic idiot. 1997 A. Dewdney Yes we have no Neutrons ii. 32 One level above imbeciles, morons occupied a gray area between idiots and imbeciles on the one hand, and fully competent people on the other. b. A person who speaks or acts in what the speaker considers an irrational way, or with extreme stupidity or foolishness. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > person of weak intellect > [noun] > idiot, crazy person Jack foolc1405 drivel1478 idiotc1480 nidiot1533 hare-brain1542 hare-copa1566 nidget1579 lunatic1602 flight-head1605 moonling1631 driveller1682 tomfool1683 niddy-noddy1722 imbecile1781 puggle1783 gype1825 eejit1853 nowmun1854 dinlo1873 loon1885 ratbag1890 doughbakea1895 ding-a-ling1899 feeb1914 dingbat1915 bodoh1922 diddy1933 Nimrod1933 pranny1949 momo1953 head-the-ball1958 flake1968 fuckwit1969 tattie-bogle1969 div1975 tube1975 wazzock1976 gonzo1977 motorhead1979 prannet1979 twonk1981 dough ball1983 numpty1985 divvy1987 c1480 (a1400) St. Theodora 148 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 103 Wenand I ware sic a ydiot, þat þu suld wit my priuete. 1547 Certain Serm. or Homilies sig. Tj^v Shall I be suche an idiot and diserde to suffre euery man to speake vpon me, what thei list. ?1555 M. Coverdale tr. O. Werdmueller Treat. Death iii. iii. 210 O thou great ydiote, thou lamentest, that thy name and honoure perysheth in thys transytorye worlde. 1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) II. 1474/2 O most idiote huddypeakes and blockishe condemners. 1620 T. Granger Syntagma Logicum 381 Many obdurate Popish Idiotes say, that all things are so deare..because there is so much preaching. 1668 T. Shadwell Sullen Lovers iii. 32 I am an Ass, an Ideot, a Blockhead and a Rascal, if I don't understand Drammatique Poetry of all things in the World; why this is the onely thing I am esteem'd for in England. 1713 J. Addison Trial of Ct. Tariff He called them ideots and blockheads. a1734 R. North Examen (1740) ii. v. 324 The Faction..had found a sarcasmous Name to fling upon the Loyallists,..that of Tory, the same as savage Brute and Idiot. 1761 G. Colman Jealous Wife ii. ii. 29 Sure You imagine Me an Ideot, a Driveller. 1768 Woman of Honor I. 151 They dare not break herd, afraid of the ridicule of idiots for not resembling them. 1796 Bp. R. Watson Apol. for Bible 283 He would have been an ideot, had he put it in the power of his enemies to prove [etc.]. 1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge li. 231 You idiot, do you know what peril you stand in? 1892 Cassell's Family Mag. Dec. 11/1 Hold your tongues, you blathering idiots. 1922 ‘R. Crompton’ Just—William i. 26 What the deu—why the dickens is the young idiot coming at this time of day? 1956 T. Williams Let. 10 Jan. in Five O'Clock Angel (1991) 131 And when I remonstrated mildly over a bit of business in rehearsal, she turned on me with a fury and shouted, ‘Shut up, idiot!’ 2002 J. Thompson Wide Blue Yonder ii. 121 Now she'd ruined everything by being an idiot. †3. A man of low intelligence maintained as a source of amusement to others; a household or court fool; a professional fool or jester. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > performance of jester or comedian > [noun] > jester or comedian jugglerc1175 foolc1300 jangler1303 fool sagec1330 ribald1340 ape-ward1362 japer1377 sage fool1377 harlotc1390 disporter?a1475 jocular?a1475 joculatora1500 jester?1518 idiot1526 scoffer1530 sporter1531 dizzardc1540 vice1552 antic1564 bauble-bearer1568 scoggin1579 buffoon1584 pleasant1595 zany1596 baladine1599 clown1600 fiddle1600 mimic1601 ape-carrier1615 mime1616 mime-man1631 merry man1648 tomfool1650 pickle-herring1656 badine1670 puddingc1675 merry-andrew1677 mimical1688 Tom Tram1688 Monaghan1689 pickled herring1711 ethologist1727 court-foola1797 Tom1817 mimer1819 fun-maker1835 funny man1839 mimester1846 comic1857 comedian1860 jokesman1882 comique1886 Joey1896 tummler1938 alternative comedian1981 Andrew- 1526 Will of Thomas Goldisburgh (P.R.O.: PROB. 11/22) f. 40 To Richard Carlton my Idyot. 1586 G. Whitney Choice of Emblemes i. 81 The ideot likes, with bables for to plaie. 1625 W. Lisle tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Noe in tr. Part of Du Bartas 41 Fooles, idiots, jesters, anticks, wranglers, and suche copes-mates as of naught-worth are suddenly start vp. 1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 47. ¶2 Ideots are still in Request in most of the Courts of Germany, where there is not a Prince of any great Magnificence who has not two or three dress'd, distinguish'd, undisputed Fools in his Retinue. 1751 Earl of Orrery Remarks Swift (1752) xxi. 262 In former ages the courts of France and England were not thought compleatly embellished without a favourite idiot. 1773 J. Pechell Hist. Univ. Oxf. to Demise Queen Elizabeth 146 Gascoin mentions, at this time, a certain idiot, or jester, the son of a great man, who was, at twelve years old, archdeacon of Oxford. B. adj. (attributive). 1. That is an idiot; profoundly mentally and intellectually disabled; exceedingly stupid. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > [adjective] > idiotic fonda1400 idiotc1400 idiotish1544 idiotly1581 idiotical1656 idiotic1659 imbecile1778 gypit1804 cretinist1858 cretinous1871 imbecilic1872 bodoh1873 dinlo1907 boob1911 pointy-headed1950 fuckwitted1973 divvy1975 fuckwit1979 numpty1992 c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xi. l. 308 (MED) Ignorancia non excusat episcopos nec idiotes prestes. 1562 W. Bullein Bk. Use Sicke Men f. lxix^v, in Bulwarke of Defence Chaunged into ideotte fooles. 1606 Wily Beguilde 31 Your father is too cruell, To..seeke to wed you to an Idiot foole That knowes not how to vse himselfe. 1647 H. More Philos. Poems i. ii. lv A private idiot man. 1762 O. Goldsmith Citizen of World II. lxxxix. 116 Yet ideot man laughs, sings, and rejoices in the very face of the sun, and seems no way touched with his situation. 1798 W. Wordsworth in W. Wordsworth & S. T. Coleridge Lyrical Ballads 149 (title) The idiot boy. 1809 Ld. Byron Eng. Bards & Sc. Reviewers 248 The tale of Betty Foy, The idiot mother of ‘an idiot boy’. 1889 W. Morris in J. W. Mackail Life W. Morris (1899) II. 221 There were some beautiful willows, and now the idiot Parson has polled them into wretched stumps. 1926 H. Crane Let. 19 Aug. (1965) 273 I have made up a kind of friendship with that idiot boy... He is rendingly beautiful at times. 1981 S. Rushdie Midnight's Children 338 The idiot child, they put him in the Army to make a man of him! 2002 N.Y. Times 10 Nov. ii. 36/3 They came to view me like someone's idiot grandmother up in the attic. 2. Of, relating to, or characteristic of an idiot or idiocy, idiotic. ΚΠ 1600 T. Dekker Old Fortunatus sig. I^v Call this madnes in, see from the windowes Of euery eye Derision thrusts out cheekes, Wrinckled with Idiot laughter. a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iii. iii. 46 Making that idiot laughter keepe mens eyes, And straine their cheekes to idle merriment. View more context for this quotation 1646 Conscience Caution'd 10 I would not for Millions, nor for Idiot fantasticall honours,..beslave and vassalize my Posterity to immence Tyranny, and unbounded folly. 1700 J. Dryden tr. G. Boccaccio Cymon & Iphigenia in Fables 545 Long mute he stood, and..His Wonder witness'd with an Ideot laugh. 1709 Ld. Shaftesbury Sensus Communis: Ess. Freedom of Wit 105 Why does an Idiot-Look and Manner destroy the Effect of all those outward Charms? 1763 C. Churchill Epist. to W. Hogarth 30 To drivel out whole years of Ideot breath. 1827 T. Hood Plea Midsummer Fairies xciv, in Plea Midsummer Fairies & Other Poems 48 To hope my solemn countenance to wring To idiot smiles! 1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems xxxvii. 6 Or if in idiot impotence arow you sit. 1885 R. L. Stevenson & F. Stevenson Dynamiter xiii. 196 When I look upon your idiot face..the tears spring up. 1922 W. J. Locke Tale of Triona xiii. 142 She..was driven by she knew not what idiot romanticalism into the grey worries of wifehood and motherhood. 1957 J. Frame Owls do Cry xxxviii. 171 Gaping idiot mouth waterfalled with slobber. 2006 C. Frazier Thirteen Moons ii. ii. 39 On idiot impulse, with no prior thought whatsoever, I did as I had seen an older boy do. Compounds C1. Similative, objective, and parasynthetic, as idiot-dull, idiot-faced, idiot-worshipper, etc. ΚΠ 1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida v. i. 7 Thou picture of what thou seemest, and Idoll, Of idiot worshippers. View more context for this quotation 1845 C. Norton Child of Islands 152 Blind! and adder-deaf, —and idiot-dull. 1989 N. Cave And Ass saw Angel iii. 171 Ah've sat on mah dumb ass and listened through eighteen million ticks and eighteen million tocks of the idiot-faced clock. C2. idiot asylum n. now offensive (archaic or historical) a hospital for the mentally ill or mentally and intellectually disabled. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > healing > places for the sick or injured > [noun] > hospital or infirmary > hospital for the mentally ill bedlam-house1525 dull-house1622 madhouse1649 bedlam1663 lunatic hospital1762 asylum1776 retreat1796 lunatic house1813 lunatic asylum1828 maison de santé1843 idiot asylum1848 rat house1854 bughouse1887 Colney Hatch1891 booby hatch1896 mental hospital1898 booby house1900 nut factory1900 nut collegec1906 nuthouse1906 monkey house1910 booby-hutch1914 nuttery1915 loony bin1919 nut hatch1928 silly house1930 bin1938 snake-pit1947 funny farm1950 1848 Times 31 Mar. 5/6 The circle of charitable institutions in this country was completed by the establishment of the Idiot Asylum. 1866 J. Macgregor Thousand Miles in Rob Roy Canoe (ed. 2) vi. 104 Close to the inn was the idiot asylum, an old castle with poor demented women in it. 1880 ‘M. Twain’ Tramp Abroad xxv. 257 They meant an asylum—an idiot asylum. 1991 Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) (Nexis) 16 Aug. The lot's bounded by a stone wall that dates to the 19th century ‘idiot asylum’ up there on the hill. idiot board n. colloquial a prompting board, especially one held in front of a television speaker but not projected on the film. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > memory > retention in the mind > improvement of memory, mnemonics > [noun] > memory aid > prompting board idiot board1952 idiot sheet1952 cue card1954 memory board1955 idiot card1957 1952 Newsweek 4 Aug. 51/2 The Republicans and the Democrats got their ‘idiot boards’ free. 1971 Radio Times 4 Nov. 6/4 I can never work with an auto-cue or idiot board. I learn my lines before the show. 1993 S. Noreiko in C. Sanders French Today ix. 178 Idiot-boards and autocues ‘prompt’, but this anglicism is meaningless in French. 2007 Express (Nexis) 6 Feb. 10 He sang some of his classics... The slightly embarrassing thing was that he had to have the words printed out on an idiot board in front of him in large size type. idiot box n. colloquial (a) an encased mechanism that provides helpful information or performs simple operations; (b) a television set. ΘΚΠ society > communication > broadcasting > television > transmitting or receiving apparatus > [noun] > television set television set1924 television1929 home video1949 TV1949 box1950 transistor set1953 telly1954 idiot box1955 monitor1957 boob tube1959 goggle-box1959 transportable1959 the tube1959 portable1960 set1961 widescreen1982 1955 European Stars & Stripes (Darmstadt, Germany) 1 Dec. 10/1 A good friend of..pilots at the Hanau airstrip is a blue and yellow monster known affectionately as the ‘idiot box’. 1957 Daily Rec. (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 8 Jan. 4/8 Author David Chandler refers to his tv set as ‘The Idiot Box’. 1965 Lancet 2 Jan. 46/2 Often they may be found, in semi-hypnotic state, watching the ‘idiot box’ with its endless stream of images and fullness of sound, all signifying nothing. 1973 Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 211 282 We assume that the modern general purpose computer is an idiot-box capable of performing only the simplest of routines. 2004 S. Coonts Liars & Thieves (2005) xiii. 142 When the broadcast was over I flipped off the idiot box. idiot card n. colloquial = idiot board n. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > memory > retention in the mind > improvement of memory, mnemonics > [noun] > memory aid > prompting board idiot board1952 idiot sheet1952 cue card1954 memory board1955 idiot card1957 1957 Sat. Evening Post 7 Sept. 64 William Maitland goggled a moment like a TV performer caught without his idiot cards. 1969 New Yorker 27 Sept. 86/3 We had all the written questions put on idiot cards, and then the people read them before the camera. 2000 Times (Nexis) 16 Feb. (Features section) Signor Prodi seemed to have such intellectual confidence in his case that he was happy to wing it without aides, idiot cards or autocue. idiot fringe n. (a) a woman's or girl's hair worn in a fringe (archaic slang); (b) = lunatic fringe n. at lunatic adj. and n. Compounds 2; also attributive. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > styles of hair > [noun] > fringe taure1688 Grecian fringe1876 bang1878 idiot fringe1879 1879 M. Dartt On Plains 8 The tall woman in the linen duster, and the short one in the white finger-puffs, and the young one in the idiot fringe [etc.]. 1923 J. Manchon Le Slang 130 Fringe, le devant des cheveux dans la coiffure à la chien (habituelle chez les femmes de la basse classe). On dit aussi idiot-fringe. 1929 Times 21 Sept. 6/2 We have..an idiot fringe of rich fools who come to Europe and squander their money in all sorts of ways. 1965 Spectator 5 Mar. 286/1 An article on a small and dying idiot-fringe sect of nationalists in North Germany. 2006 Calgary (Alberta) Herald (Nexis) 21 Oct. a29 The danger..can..be minimized by having better lane markings and more severe penalties imposed upon speeders and the idiot fringe who appear to have no road sense. idiot light n. colloquial a warning light, usually red, that goes on when a fault occurs in a mechanical or electrical device. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > warning of imminent danger or evil > [noun] > device for warning > light on machinery, etc. warning light1937 idiot light1968 1968 ‘E. McGirr’ Lead-lined Coffin iii. 173 He watched the idiot lights in the dashboard..for the warning red which would betoken he had lost the oil. 1984 M. A. Jarman Dancing nightly in Tavern 23 The engine overheating on the Church Road, the idiot light blinking red as they travel south through the pale fields of rock..his silent father, worried, pulling the shining car under the Timber Trail Ranch sign to have the oil checked. 2005 Hot Bike Mar. 148/1 I checked the location of the idiot lights, inspected the gauges and speedometer. idiot-proof adj. = foolproof adj., especially of equipment. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > easiness > [adjective] > not complex > specific idiot-proof1924 simple-to-follow1938 the world > action or operation > safety > [adjective] > safe or not dangerous > specific foolproof1874 childproof1889 idiot-proof1924 fail-safe1948 1924 C. Van Doren Many Minds iii. 212 This creed of vitality can not be held to equip the critic with any idiot-proof formula for estimating works of art. 1977 Economist 8 Oct. 90/2 Viewdata's image could be bungled if the equipment proves not to be idiot-proof. 2007 Daily Tel. 6 Apr. 26/4 With the aid of a Reader's Digest idiot-proof guide to domestic repairs and an expensively purchased slate ripper, he set about the task with gusto. † idiot's hood n. Obsolete a fool's cap. ΚΠ 1600 T. Dekker Old Fortunatus sig. C4 Why hast thou borrowed then that Idiots hood? 1639 J. Woodall Viaticum Pref. sig. ¶2^v, in Surgeons Mate (rev. ed.) He that's wise in his owne conceit, puts on the Idiots hood. idiot sheet n. colloquial = idiot board n.; also: a sheet of paper with a similar function. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > memory > retention in the mind > improvement of memory, mnemonics > [noun] > memory aid > prompting board idiot board1952 idiot sheet1952 cue card1954 memory board1955 idiot card1957 1952 Changing Times Mar. 34 That blizzard head in the new strip show was looking so hard at the idiot sheet that she bumped into the gobo and made a big womp. 1962 R. Bretz Techniques Television Production 487 When cue cards first came into use for full script purposes, they were known derisively as ‘idiot sheets’. 1996 Weekend Austral. (Brisbane) (Nexis) 10 Aug. 48 Many of television's most celebrated names are utter dimwits, entirely dependent on the autocue, the prompting voice in the earpiece, the idiot sheets waving beneath the lens. 2001 J. Vigor Seaworthy Offshore Sailboat ii. ix. 107 That's where an idiot sheet can be of such great help. Simply note all the steps you take in working out a sight and write them down on one page with spaces for all your observations and reckonings. idiot stick n. U.S. slang a shovel. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > equipment > digging or lifting tools > [noun] > shovel shovelc725 scoop1844 spader1867 banjo1918 idiot stick1930 1930 G. Williams Logger-talk 25 Idiot stick, a shovel. 1992 Calgary (Alberta) Herald (Nexis) 1 Feb. c1 Coaching beats hell out of the graveyard shift on an idiot stick on Interstate 29. ‘When you shovel gravel on road construction [etc.]’. idiot stitch n. a type of crochet worked back and forth in rows, using a longer hook than in standard crochet onto which all the stitches for the row are picked up before being worked off again, creating a thick, dense fabric; now usually called Tunisian crochet (see Tunisian n. and adj. Additions). ΚΠ 1882 S. F. A. Caulfeild & B. C. Saward Dict. Needlework 263/2 Idiot Stitch. One of the names given to Tricot Stitch. 1982 P. Earnshaw Dict. Lace 31 An enormous number of [chain] stitch variations is possible,..and their names include Idiot Stitch, Hollow Spot, Josephine Tricot, Double Knot and Raised Loop. 2004 Piecework Jan.–Feb. 60/2 A Long List of Aliases—Tunisian knitting, hakning (Swedish for ‘hooking’), Afghan stitch, idiot stitch, railway stitch, fool stitch, [etc.]. idiot string n. North American colloquial (chiefly Canadian) a length of wool or string connecting a pair of mittens or gloves to prevent their loss, typically worn around the shoulders or (esp. by children) threaded through the sleeves and across the inside back of a coat; (in later use also more generally) any length of material attached to an item (esp. a pair of glasses) which can then be worn around the neck or fixed to a person's clothing, to prevent the item being lost. ΚΠ 1967 Courier-Crescent (Orrville, Ohio) 22 Nov. 4/4 A very kind neighbor..knitted a half-dozen ‘idiot strings’ to keep the kids' mittens together. 1984 Lethbridge (Alberta) Herald 14 Aug. a 1/6 City Economic Development Director..investing in an ‘idiot string’ to hang his glasses round his neck after getting tired of losing and dropping them. 2019 @Darbmilne 22 Mar. in twitter.com (accessed 5 Apr. 2020) For someone who misplaces his wallet with shocking frequency I should probably wear it attached to an idiot string around my neck. Derivatives ˈidiot-like adj. and adv. ΚΠ a1603 T. Cartwright Confut. Rhemists New Test. (1618) 662 A childish and idiotelike pole. 1612 S. Rowlands Knaue of Harts B b My Stockings Ideot-like, red, greene, and yealow. 1752 G. A. Stevens Distress upon Distress ii. 87 He cries to change, and sighs for other Toys, Ideot-like dotes, or Savage-like destroys. 1818 Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 33 288 They, ideot-like, stand staring and sucking their fingers. 1864 Ld. Tennyson Enoch Arden in Enoch Arden, etc. 35 Muttering and mumbling, idiotlike it seem'd. 1892 A. Bierce Tales of Soldiers & Civilians 189 Its horrible head..was directed straight toward him, the definition of the wide, brutal jaw and the idiot-like forehead serving to show the direction of its malevolent gaze. 1897 O. Wilde Let. 28 May in De Profundis (2005) 137 Sometimes he would grin idiot-like to himself and make faces. 1960 A. E. Nourse Star Surgeon ix. 108 A fading away of intelligent responses, leaving thousands of creatures walking blank-faced and idiot-like about the streets and countryside. 1991 N. M. Lippit & K. I. Selden tr. K. Taeko Japanese Women Writers 120 A child who can automatically do what she is told—an idiot-like child—even her face must look like an idiot's. 1993 Sat. Evening Post (Nexis) 1 July Naomi managed a weak smile, an idiot-like grin the kids had never seen before. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022). † idiotv. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: idiot n. Etymology: < idiot n. Obsolete. transitive. To call (a person) ‘idiot’.Apparently an isolated use. ΚΠ 1864 Ld. Tennyson Aylmer's Field in Enoch Arden, etc. 81 Much befool'd and idioted. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online September 2019). < n.adj.c1384v.1864
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idiotn.adj.

Compounds

Derivatives

† idiotv.