imbecile English · revision 883

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɪmbəsiːl/ ''(UK)''; /ˈɪmbəsɪl/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|imbécile|t=weak, feeble]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|la|imbēcillus|t=weak, feeble]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) a word of uncertain origin.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) It is traditionally explained as ''in-'' “not” and ''bacillum'' “staff”, as if “without a walking stick”,^(AHD)^(Etymonline) an explanation Weekley accepted but de Vaan and the Century Dictionary reject.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ As an adjective, weak or feeble, especially of body (1549).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the mid-18th century the sense shifted to “mentally weak” (1755).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) As a noun, a person of weak intellect, it dates from 1802.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) In an old psychological classification it named an adult of mental age between an [[idiot]] and a [[moron]], a use now considered offensive,^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Etymonline) and in modern use it is mainly a general insult for a stupid person.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1549 – adjective, physically weak.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1624 – ''imbecility'', mental weakness.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1755 – mentally weak.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1802 – noun, a feeble-minded person.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A stupid or foolish person; an [[idiot]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(dated, offensive)'' A person of moderately low intelligence, in a former classification of mental disability.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Stupid or silly.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(archaic)'' Weak or feeble.^(RHWU)^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[imbecility]]

+ * [[idiot]]

+ * [[moron]]

+ * [[cretin]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}