idiota

See also: idióta, idiotā, and idiotą

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)

1. (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)

1. idiotic

Noun

idiota m or f by sense (plural idiotes)

1. idiot; fool

Derived terms

• 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, 2024
• “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^(key): [idiˈota]
• Rhymes: -ota
• Hyphenation: i‧di‧o‧ta

Adjective

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

1. 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)

1. idiotic, stupid

   Synonyms: babeco, papán, parvo, babiolo, pallouco, bolonio, estroso, doudo

Noun

idiota m or f by sense (plural idiotas)

1. idiot

Related terms

• idiocia

Further reading

• “idiota”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2024

Italian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /iˈdjɔ.ta/
• Rhymes: -ɔta
• Hyphenation: i‧diò‧ta

Noun

idiota m or f by sense (masculine plural idioti, feminine plural idiote)

1. (derogatory) idiot, moron, maroon, clot

Adjective

idiota (masculine plural idioti, feminine plural idiote)

1. 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^(key): /i.diˈoː.ta/, [ɪd̪iˈoːt̪ä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /i.diˈo.ta/, [id̪iˈɔːt̪ä]

Noun

idiōta m (genitive idiōtae); first declension

1. (derogatory) idiot, an ignorant, uneducated or illiterate person
2. (Medieval Latin) convert; conversus (lay brother)
3. (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.

	singular	plural
nominative	idiōta	idiōtae
genitive	idiōtae	idiōtārum
dative	idiōtae	idiōtīs
accusative	idiōtam	idiōtās
ablative	idiōtā	idiōtīs
vocative	idiōta	idiōtae

Descendants

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^[1], 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^[2], 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

1. 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^(key): /iˈdjɔ.ta/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔta
• Syllabification: i‧dio‧ta

Noun

idiota m pers (female equivalent idiotka)

1. (derogatory) idiot

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:głupiec

2. (pathology, obsolete) person with severe mental retardation

Declension

Declension of idiota

	singular	plural
nominative	idiota	idioci/idioty (deprecative)
genitive	idioty	idiotów
dative	idiocie	idiotom
accusative	idiotę	idiotów
instrumental	idiotą	idiotami
locative	idiocie	idiotach
vocative	idioto	idioci

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^(key): /i.d͡ʒiˈɔ.tɐ/ [i.d͡ʒɪˈɔ.tɐ], (faster pronunciation) /iˈd͡ʒjɔ.tɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /i.d͡ʒiˈɔ.tɐ/ [i.d͡ʒɪˈɔ.tɐ], (faster pronunciation) /iˈd͡ʒjɔ.tɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /i.d͡ʒiˈɔ.ta/ [i.d͡ʒɪˈɔ.ta], (faster pronunciation) /iˈd͡ʒjɔ.ta/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /iˈdjɔ.tɐ/ [iˈðjɔ.tɐ]

• Rhymes: -ɔtɐ
• Hyphenation: i‧dio‧ta

Adjective

idiota m or f (plural idiotas)

1. idiotic

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:idiota

Noun

idiota m or f by sense (plural idiotas)

1. idiot

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:idiota

Related terms

• idiotia
• idiotice

Further reading

• “idiota”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2024

Spanish

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /iˈdjota/ [iˈð̞jo.t̪a]
• Rhymes: -ota
• Syllabification: i‧dio‧ta

Adjective

idiota m or f (masculine and feminine plural idiotas)

1. idiotic

Noun

idiota m or f by sense (plural idiotas)

1. (derogatory) idiot, moron, fool, dork, eejit
2. (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