lunatic English · revision 177

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈluːnətɪk/ ''(noun)'', /luːˈnætɪk/ ''(adjective)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ From [[enm|lunatik]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) [[bor|fro|lunatique]],^(AHD)^(Etymonline) [[der|la-lat|lūnāticus|t=moonstruck]],^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) [[der|la|lūna|t=moon]],^(AHD)^(OED 1989) from the belief that changes of the moon caused intermittent insanity.^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ “Affected with periodic insanity dependent on the changes of the moon” (late 13th century).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The noun “lunatic person” dates from the late 14th century,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) originally one with lucid intervals and later, in legal use, a general term for a person of unsound mind.^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) Compare Old English ''monseoc'' “lunatic”, literally “moon-sick”,^(Etymonline) and New Testament Greek ''selēniazomai'' “to be epileptic”, from ''selēnē'' “moon”.^(Etymonline) The phrase ''lunatic fringe'' was popularized, and apparently coined, by Theodore Roosevelt in 1913.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1290 – “affected with periodic insanity”.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1377 – noun, “a person of unsound mind”.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1571 – figurative, “madly foolish”.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1762 – ''lunatic asylum''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1913 – ''lunatic fringe''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1918 – ''lunatic soup'', slang for alcoholic drink.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who acts in a wildly foolish or reckless way.^(RHWU)

+ # An insane person.^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(law)'' A person legally declared to be of unsound mind.^(RHWU)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Wildly foolish or reckless.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # Insane; of or for the insane.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lunatically]]

+ * [[lunacy]]

+ * [[lunatic fringe]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lunar]]