Etymologically
Log in

maniac

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 1 November 2026 at 02:57. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ˈmeɪ.niˌæk/[1]

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]

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