See also: Idiot and IDiot

English

Alternative forms

eejit ( Irish English, eye dialect )

idjit idget ( eye dialect )

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”).

Pronunciation

( UK , US ) IPA (key) : /ˈɪd.i.(j)ɪt/

IPA : Audio (US)

Noun

idiot (plural idiots)

( derogatory ) A person of low general intelligence. ( derogatory ) A person who makes stupid decisions; a fool. ( obsolete , medicine , psychology ) 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.

Usage notes

While pejorative, the word is only a weak insult, and between close friends or family members it may be used affectionately.

Synonyms

See also Thesaurus:idiot

Antonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

person who lacks the capacity to develop beyond the mental age of a normal four-year-old Bulgarian: идиот (bg) m ( idiot )

Dutch: idioot (nl) m

Greek: ιδιώτης (el) m ( idiótis ) , μικρόνους (el) m ( mikrónous ) Latvian: idiots m , idiote f

, Persian: کالیو (fa) ( kâliv )

Adjective

idiot (comparative more idiot, superlative most idiot)

( uncommon ) idiotic stupid

Translations

— see idiotic idiotic

Czech

Noun

idiot m

( mildly vulgar ) idiot ( disliked or slow-witted person ) see Thesaurus: hlupák idiot ( person who lacks the capacity to develop beyond the mental age of a normal four-year-old )

Related terms

Further reading

Danish

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs)

Noun

idiot

( derogatory ) an idiot imbecile fool

Derived terms

References

French

Etymology

From Old French idiot (cf. also the older form idiote), borrowed from Latin idiōta, from Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs, “layman”) from ἴδιος (ídios, “private”).

Pronunciation

Adjective

idiot (feminine singular idiote, masculine plural idiots, feminine plural idiotes)

Noun

idiot m (plural idiots, feminine idiote)

Descendants

Further reading

“idiot” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs)

Noun

idiot m (definite singular idioten, indefinite plural idioter, definite plural idiotene)

( derogatory ) an idiot imbecile fool

Derived terms

References

“idiot” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs)

Noun

idiot m (definite singular idioten, indefinite plural idiotar, definite plural idiotane)

( derogatory ) an idiot imbecile fool

Derived terms

References

“idiot” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old French

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin idiōta, from Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs, “layman”) from ἴδιος (ídios, “private”).

Adjective

idiot m (oblique and nominative feminine singular idiote)

Usage notes

The form idiote was sometimes used as both masculine and feminine, as a direct borrowing from Latin idiota.

Descendants

References

Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX e au XV e siècle (1881) (idiot, supplement)

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French idiot, itself borrowed from Latin idiōta, from Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs, “layman”) from ἴδιος (ídios, “private”).

Pronunciation

Noun

idiot m (plural idioți, feminine equivalent idioată)

Synonyms

Adjective

idiot m or n (feminine singular idioată, masculine plural idioți, feminine and neuter plural idioate)

Declension

Declension of idiot singular plural masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine nominative/

accusative indefinite idiot idioată idioți idioate definite idiotul idioata idioții idioatele genitive/

dative indefinite idiot idioate idioți idioate definite idiotului idioatei idioților idioatelor

Synonyms

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Latin idiōta, from Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs, “a private citizen, one who has no professional knowledge, layman”).

Pronunciation

Noun

idìot m (Cyrillic spelling идѝот)

Declension

Declension of idiot singular plural nominative idiot idioti genitive idiota idiota dative idiotu idiotima accusative idiota idiote vocative idiote idioti locative idiotu idiotima instrumental idiotom idiotima

See also

Slovak

Etymology

From Latin idiōta, from Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs, “a private citizen, one who has no professional knowledge, layman”).

Pronunciation

Noun

idiot m (genitive singular idiota, nominative plural idioti, genitive plural idiotov, declension pattern of chlap)

Declension

Declension of idiot singular plural nominative idiot idioti genitive idiota idiotov dative idiotovi idiotom accusative idiota idiotov locative idiotovi idiotoch instrumental idiotom idiotmi

Derived terms

See also

Further reading

idiot in Slovak dictionaries at korpus.sk

Swedish

Pronunciation

audio

Noun

idiot c

Declension