Added 9 October 2026
idiot
/ˈɪdiət/ noun
In Latin: blennus, idiota, fungus Wiktionary
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about idiot at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- A person of subnormal intelligence.
Origin
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.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)