idiot French · revision 16533

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1180, Estoire de seint Aedward (idiote)|origins=grc ἴδιος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /i.djo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''idiot''' (feminine idiote, masculine plural idiots, feminine plural idiotes)^(Wiktionary)

+ ''Idiote'' as a masculine adjective (about 1180), ''ydiotes'' (about 1225); ''ydiot'', ''idiot'' from Oresme (1370–72).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|idiōta|t=layman, one who is not an expert; ignorant person]], also “idiōtēs”, an adjective in Christian Latin.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(FEW|4, 539a) The Latin word was taken from [[grc|ἰδιώτης|tr=idiṓtēs|t=private person; layman]], one who was not a magistrate, a public man or a specialist, hence one without skill or education, from [[m|grc|ἴδιος|tr=ídios|t=private, one's own]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)^(Wiktionary) The form “idiot”, which replaced “idiote”, goes back to Oresme; it may follow [[sot]], with which it is often paired, or Oresme's preference for “idiotes” over “idiota”.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Estoire de seint Aedward le rei'' (about 1180) ''idiote'' means unlettered, ignorant, Gautier de Coinci (about 1225) has it as a noun and in the sense “foolish”: ''tous soz et ydiotes''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Latin sense “unlettered” lasted until the 16th or 17th century, and the lay brothers who could not read were called ''idiots''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873) The noun “fool” is in Beaumanoir (1283), and things such as a custom or a prejudice were called ''idiot'' from 1612.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) About 1660 (Retz) it came to mean a person of abnormally low intelligence, and in medicine (1690) one with the most severe mental deficiency.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) As an insult with a weakened sense it is in Marivaux (1731).^(GLLF 1989) ''Idiotie'' was chosen by Esquirol in medicine to replace ''idiotisme''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1180 – ''Idiote'' “ignorant”.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1225 – “Foolish”, Gautier de Coinci.^(TLFi)

+ * 1283 – A fool, Beaumanoir.^(TLFi)

+ * 1370–72 – The form ''ydiot'', Oresme.^(TLFi)

+ * 1660 – A person of very low intelligence, Retz.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1690 – In medicine.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1818 – ''Idiotie''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1845 – ''Idiotement''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|stupid]], foolish: ''il est complètement idiot''; of things, silly, absurd: ''une question idiote'', ''un accident idiot''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # ''(medicine, dated)'' Suffering from severe mental deficiency.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|idiot]], fool: ''espèce d'idiot !'', ''faire l'idiot'', to play dumb.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(dated)'' A person of very low intelligence: ''l'idiot du village''.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[idiotie]]

+ * [[idiotement]]

+ * [[idiotiser]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[idiome]]

+ * [[idiotisme]]

+ * [[grc|ἰδιώτης|tr=idiṓtēs]]

+ * [[en|idiot]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}