
In medicine and psychology, an idiot is a person with a very severe mental retardation or a very low IQ level. Idiots were defined as people whose IQ were below 20 (with a standard deviation of 16). In the current classification, these people are now said to have profound mental retardation. The word is no longer used as a scientific term. The word is derived from the Greek language word ιδιωτης, ''idiôtês'', "a private citizen, individual", from ιδιος, ''idios'', "private". In ancient Athens, an idiot was a person who declined to take part in public life, such as democratic city government. Since such activities were honorable and could directly affect all citizens, idiot was a term of derision. See Athenian democracy. In modern English language, idiot is also a derogatory term used to insult. Its use usually means "You are stupid." It can also be taken to mean "I don't like you" or "What a mistake that was." A select number of authors have used "idiot" characters in novels, plays and poetry. Often these characters are used to highlight or indicate something else, that is, often these characters are an allegorical technique. Examplars of such usage are William Faulker's ''The Sound and the Fury'' and William Wordsworth's ''The Idiot Boy''. Idiot characters in literature are often confused with or subsumed within mad or lunatic characters. The most common imbrication between these two categories of mental impairment occurs in the polemic surrounding Edmund from Shakespeare's ''King Lear''. ==Other uses== * "Idiot box" is a television. * "Idiot savant" is another term for autistic savant, used to describe people who excel in one particular thing while being below-average in other mental areas. ==Quotes== "Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress of the United States. But I repeat myself." (Mark Twain, c.1882) [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=idiot] ==External links and references== *[http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=idiot Dictionary.Reference.Com] "Middle English, ignorant person, from Old French idiote, from Latin idita, from Greek idits, private person, layman, from idios, own, private." *[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=idiot Etymonline] "c.1300, "person so mentally deficient as to be incapable of ordinary reasoning," from O.Fr. idiote "uneducated or ignorant person," from L. idiota "ordinary person, layman," in L.L. "uneducated or ignorant person," from Gk. idiotes "layman, person lacking professional skill," lit. "private person," used patronizingly for "ignorant person," from idios "one's own."
For a March 2005 deletion debate over this page see Wikipedia:Votes for deletion/Idiot ---- I think we can expand this quite a bit. The history of the idiot would be quite interesting. - User:Ta bu shi da yu 00:33, 22 Dec 2004 (UTC) :I agree - it shouldn't be moved to wiktionary (or at least it should only be copied). User:Thue | User talk:Thue 11:09, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC) === Re: Greek origin of Idiot === Extract from article in question: ''The word is derived from the Greek word ιδιωτης, idiôtês, "a private citizen, individual", from ιδιος, idios, "private". In ancient Athens, an idiot was a person who declined to take part in public life, such as democratic city government. Since such activities were honorable and could directly affect all citizens, idiot was a term of derision.'' :This is not my paragraph. The original editor evidently took the material from/or wrote the material in Athenian democracy. Since the root of the word is Greek (see your dictionary insert), I simply restored this material after your unexplained deletion. I also copy edited your material to make your edit blend with the previous article. Wiki protocol suggests that if you wish to delete a block of material for cause, move it to the discussion page and explain why. This allows the original editor to respond, and to defend if necessary. Peace. User:WBardwin 15:37, 22 Apr 2005 (UTC) == bush reference == "For further reference search for George Bush" What's with that? Does that really need to be there? It seems kind of inappropriate. :That's called Wikipedia:Vandalism. I have Wikipedia:How to revert a page to an earlier version it. User:TacoDeposit | User_talk:TacoDeposit 22:17, May 10, 2005 (UTC)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
Words begining with Idiot:
Idiot
Idiot
Idiot
Idiot's_Bayes
Idiot's_Delight
Idiot's_Delight_(solitaire)
Idiotarian
Idiotarian
Idioteque
Idioteque_Dance
Idioterne
Idioterne
Idiotfromia
Idiotfromia
Idiothetic
Idiotland
Idiots
Idiotsavant
Idiotville
Idiotville,_OR
Idiotville,_Oregon
Idiot_box
Idiot_code
Idiot_defense
Idiot_Flesh
Idiot_flesh
Idiot_fruit
Idiot_genius
Idiot_Pilot
Idiot_savant
Idiot_Savants
Idiot_Savants_(game_show)
Idiot
In medicine and psychology, an idiot is a person with a very severe mental retardation or a very low IQ level. Idiots were defined as people whose IQ were below 20 (with a standard deviation of 16). In the current classification, these people are now said to have profound mental retardation. The word is no longer used as a scientific term. The word is derived from the Greek language word ιδιωτης, ''idiôtês'', "a private citizen, individual", from ιδιος, ''idios'', "private". In ancient Athens, an idiot was a person who declined to take part in public life, such as democratic city government. Since such activities were honorable and could directly affect all citizens, idiot was a term of derision. See Athenian democracy. In modern English language, idiot is also a derogatory term used to insult. Its use usually means "You are stupid." It can also be taken to mean "I don't like you" or "What a mistake that was." A select number of authors have used "idiot" characters in novels, plays and poetry. Often these characters are used to highlight or indicate something else, that is, often these characters are an allegorical technique. Examplars of such usage are William Faulker's ''The Sound and the Fury'' and William Wordsworth's ''The Idiot Boy''. Idiot characters in literature are often confused with or subsumed within mad or lunatic characters. The most common imbrication between these two categories of mental impairment occurs in the polemic surrounding Edmund from Shakespeare's ''King Lear''. ==Other uses== * "Idiot box" is a television. * "Idiot savant" is another term for autistic savant, used to describe people who excel in one particular thing while being below-average in other mental areas. ==Quotes== "Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress of the United States. But I repeat myself." (Mark Twain, c.1882) [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=idiot] ==External links and references== *[http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=idiot Dictionary.Reference.Com] "Middle English, ignorant person, from Old French idiote, from Latin idita, from Greek idits, private person, layman, from idios, own, private." *[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=idiot Etymonline] "c.1300, "person so mentally deficient as to be incapable of ordinary reasoning," from O.Fr. idiote "uneducated or ignorant person," from L. idiota "ordinary person, layman," in L.L. "uneducated or ignorant person," from Gk. idiotes "layman, person lacking professional skill," lit. "private person," used patronizingly for "ignorant person," from idios "one's own."
Idiot
For a March 2005 deletion debate over this page see Wikipedia:Votes for deletion/Idiot ---- I think we can expand this quite a bit. The history of the idiot would be quite interesting. - User:Ta bu shi da yu 00:33, 22 Dec 2004 (UTC) :I agree - it shouldn't be moved to wiktionary (or at least it should only be copied). User:Thue | User talk:Thue 11:09, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC) === Re: Greek origin of Idiot === Extract from article in question: ''The word is derived from the Greek word ιδιωτης, idiôtês, "a private citizen, individual", from ιδιος, idios, "private". In ancient Athens, an idiot was a person who declined to take part in public life, such as democratic city government. Since such activities were honorable and could directly affect all citizens, idiot was a term of derision.'' :This is not my paragraph. The original editor evidently took the material from/or wrote the material in Athenian democracy. Since the root of the word is Greek (see your dictionary insert), I simply restored this material after your unexplained deletion. I also copy edited your material to make your edit blend with the previous article. Wiki protocol suggests that if you wish to delete a block of material for cause, move it to the discussion page and explain why. This allows the original editor to respond, and to defend if necessary. Peace. User:WBardwin 15:37, 22 Apr 2005 (UTC) == bush reference == "For further reference search for George Bush" What's with that? Does that really need to be there? It seems kind of inappropriate. :That's called Wikipedia:Vandalism. I have Wikipedia:How to revert a page to an earlier version it. User:TacoDeposit | User_talk:TacoDeposit 22:17, May 10, 2005 (UTC)
Idiot
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
I
IA | IB | IC | ID | IE | IF | IG | IH | IJ | IK | IL | IM | IN | IO | IP | IR | IS | IT | IU | IW | IX | IY | IZ |Words begining with Idiot:
Idiot
Idiot
Idiot
Idiot's_Bayes
Idiot's_Delight
Idiot's_Delight_(solitaire)
Idiotarian
Idiotarian
Idioteque
Idioteque_Dance
Idioterne
Idioterne
Idiotfromia
Idiotfromia
Idiothetic
Idiotland
Idiots
Idiotsavant
Idiotville
Idiotville,_OR
Idiotville,_Oregon
Idiot_box
Idiot_code
Idiot_defense
Idiot_Flesh
Idiot_flesh
Idiot_fruit
Idiot_genius
Idiot_Pilot
Idiot_savant
Idiot_Savants
Idiot_Savants_(game_show)
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