Etymology

idiot

id·i·ot
I1D2I1O1T1

Today it means: A person of low general intelligence. Full definition →

Middle English ydiote ← Old French idiote ← Latin idiota
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idiot · noun, adjective1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*swé
  2. Proto-Indo-European*swéd-yo-s
  3. Proto-Hellenic*hwédios
  4. Ancient Greekἴδιος (ídios)
  5. Ancient Greekἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs)
  6. Latinidiota
  7. Old Frenchidiote
  8. Middle Englishydiote
  9. English todayidiot

From Middle English idiote, ydiote, from Old French idiote (later idiot), from Latin idiota, from Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs, “a private citizen, one who has no professional knowledge, layman”), from ἴδιος (ídios, “one's own, pertaining to oneself, private”). Doublet of idiota. By surface analysis, idi- + -ot.

IDiot · noun2

  1. Englishintelligent
  2. Englishdesign
  3. Englishintelligent designinit.
  4. EnglishID
  5. Englishidiot
  6. English todayIDiot

Blend of ID (“intelligent design”) + idiot.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.