See Also: idiot(dictionary)
idiot(dictionary)
Idiot End - Poker(gambling)
idiot-prodigy(medicine)
idiot-savant(medicine)
Idiot savant(health)
idiot savant(encyclopedia)
idiot-proof(dictionary)
village idiot(dictionary)

idiot (iou)



idiot noun & adjective. ME.
[Old & mod. French from Latin idiota ignorant person from Greek idiotes private person, plebeian, layman, ignorant person, from idios private, peculiar. See also EEJIT.]
A. noun.
A person with extremely low intelligence. obsolete in Medicine. ME.
J. R. Ackerley The small blank eyes mooned stolidly at me..it was like being gaped at by the village idiot.
b. A stupid person, a fool, a blockhead. colloq. LME.
E. M. Forster Charles clenched his fist and cried, 'The idiot, the idiot, the little fool!' P. G. Wodehouse She was incensed with this idiot who had flung himself before her car.
c. A person of weak intellect maintained as an amusement; a jester, a fool. E16-E18.
An uneducated or ignorant person; a simple person. LME-E18.
b. A layman. LME-M17.
Comb.: idiot board a board displaying a television script to a speaker as an aid to memory; idiot box colloq. a television set; idiot card = idiot board above; idiot light colloq. a warning light that goes on when a fault occurs in a device; idiot-proof adjective (colloq.) foolproof; idiot savant (a) a person who is considered to be mentally handicapped but displays brilliance in a specific area, esp. one involving memory; (b) a person who is extremely unworldly but displays natural wisdom and insight.
b. attrib. or as adjective. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of an idiot or idiocy; idiotic. LME.
J. Wainwright The idiot woman rode her horse directly into my path. A. Sillitoe Baxter was whistling some idiot song.
idiotish adjective (now rare) somewhat idiotic M16.
idiotize verb (a) verb intrans. become idiotic; (b) verb trans. make idiotic or into an idiot; make a fool of: L16.
idiotry noun (a) Scots Law idiocy; (b) idiotic behaviour: L15.