Etymology

idiocy

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Today it means: The state or condition of being an idiot; the quality of having an intelligence level far below average. Full definition →

French idiotie ← Old French idiot
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The story

  1. Old French · derived fromidiot
  2. French · derived fromidiotie
  3. English todayidiocy

From French idiotie, from Old French idiot. Displaced earlier idiotacy, idiotry. Equivalent to idiot + -cy. By surface analysis, idio- + -cy.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.