maniac

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French maniaque or its source, borrowed from Late Latin maniacus (“of madness”),^[2][3][4] which is from Ancient Greek μανιακός (maniakós),^[3][5][6][7] formed from μανία (manía, “madness”) (the source of mania).^[2][8] The French adjective is recorded from the late 13th century and the French noun from the late 15th; post-classical Latin had the adjective from the 6th century and the noun from the 9th.^[2] Merriam-Webster and the ODE call the Greek word late Greek,^[6][7] and Klein and Dictionary.com call the Latin word Medieval Latin.^[4][9] The Greek noun is from the base of μαίνεσθαι (maínesthai, “to rage, be in a frenzy”),^[2][3] usually traced to Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to think”), the root of mind, although the OED notes that this is uncertain.^[2][3][5] Etymonline says the word was borrowed at first in its French form.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of, relating to or marked by mania: 1526, in the Grete Herball.^[2] Merriam-Webster also dates the word to 1526,^[6] but Etymonline puts the adjective at about 1600, meaning "raving with madness",^[3] and Dictionary.com at 1595–1605.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The adjective came first: "affected with mania, raving mad" is recorded from 1597, in James VI's Daemonologie.^[2] The noun, a person affected with mania, a madman, is recorded from before 1763, in Shenstone's elegies,^[2][3] and Merriam-Webster also dates it to about 1763.^[6] From the 19th century the word was weakened: Jefferson used the adjective for "frantic, wildly excited" in 1809,^[2] while from 1833, in a letter of Coleridge, a maniac could be a person with an obsessive enthusiasm for something.^[2] The OED notes that the noun is now often used in a trivial way,^[2] and Collins labels the psychiatric sense obsolete.^[10]

Timeline

• 1526 – adjective, relating to mania.^[2][6]
• 1597 – adjective, raving mad.^[2]
• before 1763 – noun, a person affected with mania; a madman.^[2][3]
• 1809 – adjective, frantic, wildly excited.^[2]
• 1833 – noun, a person with an excessive enthusiasm for something.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who behaves in a wild, violent or reckless way; a madman: Some maniac was driving on the wrong side of the road.^[10][6][2]
2. A person with an excessive enthusiasm for something: a golf maniac.^[10][6][2]
3. (psychiatry, obsolete) A person who has mania.^[10][2]

Adjective

1. Affected with madness; insane; also maniacal.^[6][2][8]
2. Of, relating to or suggesting mania.^[6][2]

Related words

• mania
• maniacal
• manic
• maenad
• mind

Usage notes

Merriam-Webster also lists MANIAC as the name of an early high-speed electronic computer, an acronym of mathematical analyzer, numerical integrator and computer.^[6]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins