moron English · revision 1213

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈmɔːɹɒn/ ''(UK)''; /ˈmoɹɑn/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It was coined from [[grc|μωρόν|tr=mōrón]], the neuter of ''mōrós'' “foolish, dull, stupid”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) a word of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster calls the formation irregular.^(MW Collegiate) It is related to [[oxymoron]] and [[sophomore]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A technical term in psychology (1910), adopted by the American Association for the Study of the Feeble-minded for an adult with a mental age of about eight to twelve, the highest grade in a classification that also had ''idiot'' and ''imbecile''.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word was used as an insult in print by 1918^(Etymonline) and in the general sense of a stupid person from 1922;^(OED 1989) it was later dropped from technical use.^(Etymonline) The American Heritage Dictionary notes that the old classification is no longer used and that the clinical sense is now considered offensive.^(AHD) The adjective ''moronic'' is recorded from 1926.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1910 – technical term in psychology.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1918 – used as an insult.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1922 – a stupid person.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1926 – ''moronic''.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A very [[stupid]] person; a [[fool]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(offensive, dated)'' In a former psychological classification, a person with a mild [[intellectual disability]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[moronic]]

+ * [[moronically]]

+ * [[moronity]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[oxymoron]]

+ * [[sophomore]]

+ * [[imbecile]]

+ * [[idiot]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Wiktionary notes that the current medical term for the former clinical range is “mild intellectual disability”.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}