"idiot" - meanings, definitions, synonyms, thesaurus and antonyms

\Id"i*ot\, n. [F. idiot, L. idiota an uneducated,
ignorant, ill-informed person, Gr. ?, also and orig., a
private person, not holding public office, fr. ? proper,
peculiar. See {Idiom}.]
1. A man in private station, as distinguished from one
   holding a public office. [Obs.]

         St. Austin affirmed that the plain places of
         Scripture are sufficient to all laics, and all
         idiots or private persons.            --Jer. Taylor.

2. An unlearned, ignorant, or simple person, as distinguished
   from the educated; an ignoramus. [Obs.]

         Christ was received of idiots, of the vulgar people,
         and of the simpler sort, while he was rejected,
         despised, and persecuted even to death by the high
         priests, lawyers, scribes, doctors, and rabbis. --C.
                                               Blount.

3. A human being destitute of the ordinary intellectual
   powers, whether congenital, developmental, or accidental;
   commonly, a person without understanding from birth; a
   natural fool; a natural; an innocent.

         Life . . . is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound
         and fury, Signifying nothing.         --Shak.

4. A fool; a simpleton; -- a term of reproach.

         Weenest thou make an idiot of our dame? --Chaucer.