mad English · revision 3916

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 800|origins=gem-pro *gamaidaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mæd/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|madde]],^(Barnhart 1988) [[inh|ang|gemǣdd]], the plural gemædde, earlier [[m|ang|gemǣded|t=rendered insane]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) past participle of an unrecorded verb *gemǣdan “to make insane”, from [[m|ang|gemād|t=insane, foolish]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[gem-pro|*gamaidaz|t=changed for the worse, abnormal]],^(Etymonline) which is also the source of Old Saxon gimēd “foolish”, Old High German gimeit “foolish, vain, boastful” and Gothic gamaiþs “crippled”.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) The Germanic word is formed from the prefix *ga- and [[ine-pro|*moito-]], a past participle of [[ine-pro|*mei-|t=to change, go, move]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) the root of Latin mūtāre “to change”.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) The Middle English form mad is aphetic, from earlier amad.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Out of one's mind, insane: before 1000 in the OED and Barnhart,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) and before 800 in the participle gemæded.^(Barnhart 1988) The Old English word also meant “foolish, extremely stupid”, from about 725.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle English it took the place of the more usual Old English word for insane, wod, the ancestor of the old adjective [[wood]].^(Etymonline) “Beside oneself with enthusiasm” and “furious, beside oneself with anger” are both from the early 14th century;^(Etymonline) the angry sense is still standard in American English but has largely died out in British English.^(Cresswell 2021) ''Mad for'' or ''about'', “passionate about”, is Middle English.^(Cresswell 2021) ''Like mad'', “furiously”, is from about 1420,^(OED 1989) and ''to go mad'' from 1589.^(OED 1989) ''Mad as a March hare'' is from the early 16th century and ''mad as a hatter'' from the early 19th,^(Cresswell 2021) the hatter comparison popularised from 1865 by Lewis Carroll's Mad Hatter.^(Cresswell 2021) The verb, “to make or be mad”, is from the 14th century;^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline) it was largely replaced by [[madden]] in the 18th.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – foolish, unwise.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1000 – insane.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1275 – spelling madde.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1330 – wildly enthusiastic.^(OED 1989)

+ * early 14th century – furious, angry.^(Etymonline)

+ * late 14th century – adverb and verb.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1420 – ''like mad''.^(OED 1989)

+ * early 16th century – ''mad as a March hare''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * early 19th century – ''mad as a hatter''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Angry; [[resentment|alt=resentful]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Mentally ill; [[insane]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Wildly excited or carried away by emotion.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Lacking reason; [[foolish]] or reckless.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Very enthusiastic: ''mad about jazz''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Of an animal, affected with [[rabies]].^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make or become mad; to [[madden]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[maddish]]

+ * [[madcap]]

+ * [[madman]]

+ * [[madness]]

+ * [[madwoman]]

+ * [[madwort]]

+ * [[unmad]]

+ * [[madden]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[wood]]

+ * [[mutate]]

+ * [[migrate]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Mad as a noun for a maggot or earthworm, from 1573, is a separate word.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}