Etymologically
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mad

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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English madde,[2] inherited from Old English gemǣdd, the plural gemædde, earlier gemǣded (“rendered insane”),[3][2][4] past participle of an unrecorded verb *gemǣdan “to make insane”, from gemād (“insane, foolish”),[3][2][5] from Proto-Germanic *gamaidaz (“changed for the worse, abnormal”),[3] which is also the source of Old Saxon gimēd “foolish”, Old High German gimeit “foolish, vain, boastful” and Gothic gamaiþs “crippled”.[3][4] The Germanic word is formed from the prefix *ga- and Proto-Indo-European *moito-, a past participle of Proto-Indo-European *mei- (“to change, go, move”),[3][4] the root of Latin mūtāre “to change”.[3][4] The Middle English form mad is aphetic, from earlier amad.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Out of one's mind, insane: before 1000 in the OED and Barnhart,[6][2] and before 800 in the participle gemæded.[2] The Old English word also meant “foolish, extremely stupid”, from about 725.[3][6]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English it took the place of the more usual Old English word for insane, wod, the ancestor of the old adjective wood.[3] “Beside oneself with enthusiasm” and “furious, beside oneself with anger” are both from the early 14th century;[3] the angry sense is still standard in American English but has largely died out in British English.[7] Mad for or about, “passionate about”, is Middle English.[7] Like mad, “furiously”, is from about 1420,[6] and to go mad from 1589.[6] Mad as a March hare is from the early 16th century and mad as a hatter from the early 19th,[7] the hatter comparison popularised from 1865 by Lewis Carroll's Mad Hatter.[7] The verb, “to make or be mad”, is from the 14th century;[5][3] it was largely replaced by madden in the 18th.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – foolish, unwise.[6]
  • before 1000 – insane.[6][2]
  • c. 1275 – spelling madde.[2]
  • c. 1330 – wildly enthusiastic.[6]
  • early 14th century – furious, angry.[3]
  • late 14th century – adverb and verb.[3]
  • c. 1420 – like mad.[6]
  • early 16th century – mad as a March hare.[7]
  • early 19th century – mad as a hatter.[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Angry; resentful.
  2. Mentally ill; insane.
  3. Wildly excited or carried away by emotion.
  4. Lacking reason; foolish or reckless.
  5. Very enthusiastic: mad about jazz.
  6. Of an animal, affected with rabies.

Verb

  1. To make or become mad; to madden.

Word family

  • maddish
  • madcap
  • madman
  • madness
  • madwoman
  • madwort
  • unmad
  • madden

Usage notes

Mad as a noun for a maggot or earthworm, from 1573, is a separate word.[6]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press