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idiot

Pronunciation: /ˈɪdiət/

The English word “idiot” has 4 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A person of low general intelligence.
  2. A person who makes stupid decisions; a fool.
  3. A person of the lowest intellectual standing, a person who lacks the capacity to develop beyond the mental age of a normal four-year-old; a person with an IQ below 30.

adjective

  1. Idiotic, stupid.

Etymology

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.

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