idiota Latin · revision 682

10 Oct 2026, 04:10 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ɪ.diˈoː.ta]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [i.diˈɔː.ta]^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Forms==
+ '''idiōta''' ''m'' (genitive idiōtae); first declension^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[bor|grc|ἰδιώτης|tr=idiṓtēs|t=private person, layman]],^(OLD 2012)^(Saalfeld 1874)^(Wiktionary) from [[m|grc|ἴδιος|tr=ídios|t=one's own, private]].^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) Isidore of Seville explains it as an unskilled person, and the glossaries render it as [[privatus|alt=prīvātus]] and [[indoctus]].^(TLL)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Its first author is Lucilius, in the late 2nd century BC,^(Köbler 2010)^(TLL) who complains that someone might call him “unlettered and a [[m|en|layman]]”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant an ordinary person as opposed to an expert, a layman or amateur, and Cicero uses it of those whom a connoisseur of art looks down on as ignorant.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Seneca the Elder has it for a private individual holding no public office, its Greek sense.^(OLD 2012) Quintilian uses ''idiotae'' for the common crowd.^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+ 
+ In Late and Medieval Latin it meant an ignorant or illiterate person, a recent convert, a lay brother, and a private person.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Wiktionary) Through Old French it gave [[en|idiot]] in the early 14th century.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it for an unlettered man.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for laymen in matters of art.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 1st century BC – Vitruvius distinguishes craftsmen from ''idiotae''.^(OLD 2012)
+ * Middle Ages – It means an illiterate person and a lay brother.^(Niermeyer 1976)
+ * early 14th century – Through Old French it gives [[en|idiot]].^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # An ordinary person, [[m|en|layman]], amateur; an ignorant person.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+ # A private individual.^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' An illiterate person; a recent convert; a lay brother.^(Niermeyer 1976)
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[en|idiot]]
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}