idiota Italian · revision 37887

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1282, Restoro d'Arezzo|origins=grc ἴδιος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /iˈdjɔ.ta/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''idiota''' ''m or f'' by sense (masculine plural idioti, feminine plural idiote)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|idiōta|t=layman; ignorant person]], from [[grc|ἰδιώτης|tr=idiṓtēs|t=private citizen; layman]], from [[m|grc|ἴδιος|tr=ídios|t=one's own, private]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Greek noun named the private man as against the holder of public office, and so came to mean someone without skill or experience.^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto 1968)^(GDLI) DEI notes that in Galen it already passes from “ordinary person” to “common, ignorant”, and Isidore of Seville glossed the Latin word as “unskilled”.^(DEI|1917)^(GDLI) The same Latin noun gave [[fr|idiot]] and [[es|idiota]].^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The sources disagree on where the sense “stupid” arose.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|1917) DELI says it developed in French in the 12th century, while DEI dates it in Italian and French to the 17th century, much earlier in English and around 1800 in German.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|1917) DELI's own dates for Italian put it in the 14th century, in Antonio Pucci and Catherine of Siena.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in the ''Composizione del mondo'' of Restoro d'Arezzo (1282), where the word means an uneducated person.^(TLIO) DELI and GRADIT date the sense “unlearned” to Iacopone da Todi (before 1306), who marvels at “omini idioti tanto saper parlare” (such skill in speech in unlearned men).^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI|7, 214)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Dante's ''Convivio'' the ''idioti'' are people who could not say their ABC and yet would argue about geometry and astrology.^(GDLI|7, 214) The word was not always contemptuous: Domenico Cavalca wrote that a holy ''idioto'' knows God far better than a learned sinner, and Tommaseo explained the mild sense from the Greek origin.^(GDLI|7, 214)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861|2, 1272) The TLIO records a ''giudice idiota'', a layman without legal learning who judged small debt cases, and DEI notes the sense “a layman who is not a jurist” in southern Italy in the 16th and 17th centuries.^(TLIO)^(DEI|1917)

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+ The sense “stupid, senseless” is recorded before 1380 and 1388, and the medical sense, a person with severe mental disability, from 1865, in Carducci.^(DELI 1999) Today the word is mainly an insult, and political journalism uses ''utile idiota'' for someone who does not grasp a situation and is easily manipulated.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(GRADIT 2003) The derivative ''idiotismo'' “idiom of a language” (1573) goes back to Latin ''idiotismus'' and Greek ''idiōtismós'', and ''idiozia'' (1875) comes from French ''idiotie''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) English recorded ''idiota'', from Latin or Italian, in 1624.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1282 – Restoro d'Arezzo uses ''idiota'' for an uneducated person.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi uses it in the sense “unlearned”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1380 – Catherine of Siena uses it in the sense “stupid”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1573 – ''Idiotismo'' “idiom” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1624 – English records ''idiota''.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1865 – Giosuè Carducci uses the medical sense.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1875 – ''Idiozia'' is taken from French.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|idiot]], a very stupid person; often an insult: ''Che idiota sono stato a fidarmi di lui!''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(medicine, dated)'' A person affected by [[idiozia]], severe mental disability.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(archaic)'' An uneducated person, a [[m|en|layman]].^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(TLIO)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Stupid; showing stupidity: ''Smettila di fare domande idiote.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(medicine, dated)'' Affected by idiocy.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[idiozia]]

+ * [[idiotismo]]

+ * [[idiotamente]]

+ * [[idiotaggine]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[idioma]]

+ * [[fr|idiot]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The singular is the same for men and women (''un idiota'', ''un'idiota''); the plurals are ''idioti'' and ''idiote''.^(Wiktionary)^(Zingarelli 2010) An old variant is ''idioto''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}