# idiota
## English
### Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish idiota, from Latin idiōta (“idiot”), from Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs, “layman”) from ἴδιος (ídios, “private”). Doublet of idiot.

### Pronunciation

* Audio (US):(file)

### Noun

idiota (plural idiotas)
* (derogatory, slang, US) Fool or imbecile.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:fool

## Catalan
### Etymology

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

### Adjective

idiota m or f (masculine and feminine plural idiotes)
* idiotic

### Noun

idiota m or f by sense (plural idiotes)
* idiot; fool

### Derived terms

* idiota útil
* idiotesa

### Related terms

* idiòcia

### Further reading

* “idiota” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “idiota”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “idiota” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “idiota” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Esperanto
### Etymology

From idioto +‎ -a.

### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)
* IPA: [idiˈota]
* Rhymes: -ota
* Hyphenation: i‧di‧o‧ta

### Adjective

idiota (accusative singular idiotan, plural idiotaj, accusative plural idiotajn)
* idiotic

## Galician
### Etymology

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

### Adjective

idiota m or f (plural idiotas)
* idiotic, stupid
    Synonyms: babeco, papán, parvo, babiolo, pallouco, bolonio, estroso, doudo

### Noun

idiota m or f by sense (plural idiotas)
* idiot

#### Related terms

* idiocia

### Further reading

* “idiota”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

## Italian
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /iˈdjɔ.ta/
* Rhymes: -ɔta
* Hyphenation: i‧diò‧ta

### Noun

idiota m or f by sense (masculine plural idioti, feminine plural idiote)
* (derogatory) idiot, moron, maroon, clot

### Adjective

idiota (masculine plural idioti, feminine plural idiote)
* idiotic

#### Derived terms

* idiotaggine
* idiotamente

#### Related terms

* idiotismo
* idiozia

### Further reading

* idiota in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
iodati, odiati

### Anagrams

* iodati, odiati

## Latin
### Alternative forms

* idiōtēs
* ydiōta (Medieval Latin)

### Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs, “person not involved in public affairs, layman”), from ἴδιος (ídios, “private”).

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /i.diˈoː.ta/, [ɪd̪iˈoːt̪ä]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /i.diˈo.ta/, [id̪iˈɔːt̪ä]

### Noun

idiōta m (genitive idiōtae); first declension
* (derogatory) idiot, an ignorant, uneducated or illiterate person
* (Medieval Latin) convert; conversus (lay brother)
* (Medieval Latin) private person

#### Usage notes

* (uneducated person): Sometimes used in a non-derogatory sense in Medieval Latin, partially influenced by a folk etymology deriving the term from idiōma, thus “one who speaks only their own language”, i.e., the vernacular and not Latin.

#### Declension

First-declension noun.

#### Descendants

* → Catalan: idiota
* → Old French: idiote, idiot
** → Middle English: idiote
*** English: idiot
** French: idiot
*** → Romanian: idiot
* → Galician: idiota
* → German: Idiot
* → Hungarian: idióta
* → Italian: idiota
* → Polish: idiota
* → Portuguese: idiota
* → Serbo-Croatian: idiot
* → Slovak: idiot
* → Spanish: idiota
** → English: idiota

### References

* “idiota”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* "idiota", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
* “idiota”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
* Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co. a connoisseur; a specialist: (artis, artium) intellegens, peritus (opp. idiota, a layman)
* idiota in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
* R. E. Latham, D. R. Howlett, & R. K. Ashdowne, editors (1975–2013), “idiota”, in Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources‎, London: Oxford University Press for the British Academy, →ISBN, →OCLC
* Niermeyer, Jan Frederik (1976) “idiota”, in Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden, Boston: E. J. Brill

## Latvian
### Noun

idiota m
* genitive singular of idiots

## Polish
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /iˈdjɔ.ta/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ɔta
* Syllabification: i‧dio‧ta

### Noun

idiota m pers (female equivalent idiotka)
* (derogatory) idiot
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:głupiec
* (pathology, obsolete) person with severe mental retardation

#### Derived terms

* idiotyczny
* idiotyzm

### Further reading

* idiota in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
* idiota in Polish dictionaries at PWN

## Portuguese
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /i.d͡ʒiˈɔ.tɐ/ [i.d͡ʒɪˈɔ.tɐ], (faster pronunciation) /iˈd͡ʒjɔ.tɐ/
* (Brazil) IPA: /i.d͡ʒiˈɔ.tɐ/ [i.d͡ʒɪˈɔ.tɐ], (faster pronunciation) /iˈd͡ʒjɔ.tɐ/
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /i.d͡ʒiˈɔ.ta/ [i.d͡ʒɪˈɔ.ta], (faster pronunciation) /iˈd͡ʒjɔ.ta/
* (Portugal) IPA: /iˈdjɔ.tɐ/ [iˈðjɔ.tɐ]
* Rhymes: -ɔtɐ
* Hyphenation: i‧dio‧ta

### Adjective

idiota m or f (plural idiotas)
* idiotic
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:idiota

### Noun

idiota m or f by sense (plural idiotas)
* idiot
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:idiota

#### Related terms

* idiotia
* idiotice

### Further reading

* “idiota”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

## Spanish
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /iˈdjota/ [iˈð̞jo.t̪a]
* Rhymes: -ota
* Syllabification: i‧dio‧ta

### Adjective

idiota m or f (masculine and feminine plural idiotas)
* idiotic

### Noun

idiota m or f by sense (plural idiotas)
* (derogatory) idiot, moron, fool, dork, eejit
* (derogatory) dick, jerk, schmuck, douchebag, asshole, ass, jackass, prick (i.e., a cocky or self-important individual without any foundation for it)

#### Usage notes

* Although in some contexts zonzo, bobo, tonto, menso, culero, tarado, idiota, imbécil, estúpido and pendejo may be synonyms, in most contexts they have a different degree of intensity, with zonzo having the mildest connotation, increasing in intensity in that rough order, to estúpido and pendejo, which have the most offensive meaning.

#### Derived terms

* caja idiota
* idiota útil

#### Related terms

* idiotez
* idiotizar

### Further reading

* “idiota”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10