natural fooln.
/ˌnatʃ(ə)rəl ˈfuːl/, /ˌnatʃ(ə)rl̩ ˈfuːl/, U.S. /ˌnætʃər(ə)l ˈful/, /ˌnætʃr(ə)l ˈful/ Now archaic or historical.
A person who is deficient in intelligence from birth; a person born with a mental disability. Cf. natural n.1 7 and natural idiot n.
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
c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 236 (MED) Socrates..provid hym bod a wriche & a naturall fule.
a1500 (?a1410) J. Lydgate Churl & Bird (Lansd.) 225 in Minor Poems (1934) ii. 478 (MED) Thou were..a verry natural foole To sofre me departe of thi lewdnesse.
1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII c. 46 Ideottes and fooles naturall, now remayning..in his graces custodye.
1590 J. Smythe Certain Disc. Weapons Ded. 10 b As though their Soldiers had bene either such naturall fooles or children.
c1670 T. Hobbes Dial. Com. Laws (1681) 98 Saying the King was a Natural Fool, and unfit to govern.
1700 J. Brydall (title) Non Compos Mentis, or the Law relating to Natural Fools, Mad Folks, and Lunatic Persons.
1748 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 9 Mar. (1932) (modernized text) III. 1116 Which makes those, who do not know him, take him at first for a natural fool.
1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan I. 119 Imposed upon by one whom you have thought a natural fool.
1887 Dict. National Biogr. IX. 355/2 The young girl,..discontented at being regarded, owing to her shyness and prudery, as a ‘natural fool’, repented of her wish.
1961 A. R. Heiserman Skelton & Satire 123 He [sc. Foly] is the professional, not the natural, fool.
1998 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 103 1375 In the case of a man who frequently makes mistakes or is regularly wrong in his judgment, we are dealing with a natural fool (i.e., not a man who only plays the role of a fool).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.c1450