It was formerly a technical term in legal and psychiatric contexts for some kinds of profound intellectual disability where the mental age is two years or less, and the person cannot guard themself against common physical dangers. The term was gradually replaced by the term profound mental retardation (which itself has since been replaced by other terms ) . Along with terms like moron, imbecile, and cretin, its use to describe people with mental disabilities is archaic and considered to be offensive. Etymology The word "idiot" comes from the Greek noun idiōtēs 'a private person, individual'  , 'a private citizen' (as opposed to an official ), 'a common man', 'a person lacking professional skill, layman', later 'unskilled', 'ignorant', derived from the adjective idios ' private' , 'one's own'. Liddell-Scott-Jones A Greek–English Lexicon, s.v. and . In Latin, idiota was borrowed in the meaning 'uneducated', 'ignorant', 'common',A Latin Dictionary, s.v. and in Late Latin came to mean 'crude, illiterate, ignorant'.du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis, s.v. In French, it kept the meaning of 'illiterate', 'ignorant', and added the meaning 'stupid' in the 13th century.Trésor de la langue française informatisé, s.v. In English, it added the meaning 'mentally deficient' in the 14th century.
'Idiot' was formerly a technical term in legal and psychiatric contexts for some kinds of profound intellectual disability where the mental age is two years or less, and the person cannot guard themself against common physical dangers. The term was gradually replaced by ' profound mental retardation ', which has since been replaced by other terms . Along with terms like moron, imbecile, and cretin, its use to describe people with mental disabilities is archaic and offensive. Etymology The word "idiot" comes from the Greek noun idiōtēs 'a private person, individual' (as opposed to the state) , 'a private citizen' (as opposed to someone with a political office ), 'a common man', 'a person lacking professional skill, layman', later 'unskilled', 'ignorant', derived from the adjective idios ' personal' (not public, not shared), 'one's own'. J. Diggle, ed., The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, 2021, , s.v., p. 702Liddell-Scott-Jones A Greek–English Lexicon, s.v. and . In Latin, idiota was borrowed in the meaning 'uneducated', 'ignorant', 'common',A Latin Dictionary, s.v. and in Late Latin came to mean 'crude, illiterate, ignorant'.du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis, s.v. In French, it kept the meaning of 'illiterate', 'ignorant', and added the meaning 'stupid' in the 13th century.Trésor de la langue française informatisé, s.v. In English, it added the meaning 'mentally deficient' in the 14th century.
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It
'Idiot'
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the term
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(which itself
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)
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considered to be
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(as opposed to the state)
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an official
someone with a political office
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private' ,
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Liddell-Scott-Jones
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