Etymology

idiot-proof

Today it means: Incapable of being misused even by the most stupid or careless of users. Full definition →

English proof ← Middle English ydiote ← Old French idiote
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The story

  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. Englishidiot
  10. Englishproof
  11. English todayidiot-proof

From idiot + -proof.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.