idiosyncrasy 
I have no antipathy, or rather iilio-sniu-rmiii. In iliet, hu- 
mour, air, anything. Sir T. l>rotrn>; Religio Medici, ii. 1. 
That I am fond of indulging, beyond a hope of sympa- 
thy, in such retrospection, may be the symptom of some 
sickly idiosyncrasy. Lamb, New Year's Eve. 
Idiosyncrasies are, however, frequent ; thus we find one 
person has an exceptional memory for sounds, another 
for colours, another for forms. 
J. Ward, Encyc. Brit, XX. 61. 
idiosyncratic (id"i-6-sin-krat'ik), a. [< idiosyn- 
crasy (-cnit-) + -ic."\ Relating or pertaining to 
idiosyncrasy ; of or arising from individual dis- 
position or susceptibility : as, idiosyncratic sym- 
pathy. 
Only by comparison are we able to generalize, and to dis- 
cover what is wtoumamtia in these manifestations. 
J. Nelson, Amer. Jour. Psychol., I. 374. 
Both sensory and non-sensory hallucinations ... are 
idiosyncratic and unshared. E. Gtirney, Mind, X. 162. 
idiot (id'i-ot), n. and o. [Formerly also ideot; 
< ME. idiot, i/diot = D. idioot = G. Dan. Sw. 
idiot, < OF. idiot, F. idiot = Sp. Pg. It. idiota, 
an idiot, < L. idiota, an uneducated, ignorant, 
inexperienced, common person, < Gr. L&IUTIK, a 
private person, a common man, one who has 
no professional knowledge, an ignorant, ill-in- 
formed man, < iSiovadw, make one's own, < i&of, 
one's own, peculiar: see idiom.'] I, w. It. A 
private person. 
St Austin affirmed that the plain places of Scripture are 
sufficient to all laics, and all idiots or private persons. 
Jer. Taylor. 
2f. An unlearned, ignorant, or simple person. 
Estwarde and westwarde I awayted after faste, 
And jede forth as an ydiale in centre to aspye 
After Pieres the Plowman. 
Piers Plowman (B), xvi. 170. 
Christ was received of idiots, of the vulgar people, and 
of the simpler sort. Blount. 
3f. A fool or dupe ; one who is fooled. 
Wenest thou make an ydiot of our dame? 
Chaucer, Prol. to Wife of Bath's Tale, 1. 311. 
4f. A professional fool ; a jester; a clown. 
The ideot likes with babies for to plaie : . . . 
A motley coate, a cockescombe, or a bell, 
Hee better likes then Jewelles that excell. 
6. Whitney, Emblems (1586), p. 31. 
The head of an ideot dressed in a cap and bells, and gap- 
Ing in a most immoderate manner. Spectator, No. 47. 
5. A human being destitute of the ordinary 
mental powers ; one who is born without un- 
derstanding or discernment, or who has utterly 
lost it by disease, so as to have no lucid inter- 
vals ; one who, by deficiency of the intellectual 
faculties, is unfit for the social condition, or 
for taking care of himself in danger. 
Genetous idiots are rarely physically well made. They 
appear to have received, in many instances, with the heri- 
tage of a defective brain, an enfeebled, dwarfed, often crip- 
pled body. Buck's Handbook of Med. Sciences, IV. 92. 
6. In old Eng. law, one who has been without un- 
derstanding or reasoning powers from his birth, 
as distinguished from a lunatic. "At the pres- 
ent day idiocy is considered as a species of in- 
sanity or lunacy." (Rapalje and Lawrence.) 
An idiot, or natural fool, is one that hath had no under- 
standing from his nativity. Blackistone, Com., I. viii. 
II. a. Afflicted with or indicating idiocy; 
idiotic. 
The tale of Betty Foy, 
The idiot mother of an idiot boy. 
Byron, English Bards and Scotch Reviewers, 
Ye mar a comely face with idiot tears. 
Tennyson, Geraint 
Idiot BtitCh, a name given to tricot stitch in crochet. 
DM. of Needlework. 
idiot (id'i-ot), v. t. [< idiot, n.~] To make or 
render idiotic. 
And being much befool'd and idioted 
By the rough amity of the other, sank 
As into sleep again. Tennyson, Aylrner's Field. 
idiotcy (id'i-ot-si), n. [< idiot + -c,y ; prop, idi- 
ocy, q. v. , the t being involved in the c.] Same 
as idiocy. [Rare.] 
A state of mind which cannot comprehend the meaning 
of an enactment or a penalty as infancy, idiotcy, insan- 
ity, ignorance of the dialect spoken excuses the indi- 
vidual from punishment. 
A. Bain, Emotions and Will, p. 521. 
Idiothalameae (id // i-o-tha-la'me-e),.pZ. [NL., 
< idiothalamiis (see iilinthnlunioits) + -ece.] A 
division of lichens including the Umbelicariei, 
Opegraphei, etc., now placed in several tribes. 
Also written Idiotlialami, Idiothalamia, and 
Idiotltalamii. 
idiothalamous (id"i-6-thal'a-mus), a. [< NL. 
idiutliulaiHiix, < Gr. iAof, one's own, + fti/ta^of, 
aroom: see tlnilniiiiin.'] In but., having certain 
parts of a different color and texture from the 
thallus: applied to lichens. 
2977 
idiotic (i<l-i-ot'ik), . [= F. idi 
ulidtieo = Pg. It. idiotico, idiotic, < LL. idioticiix, 
uneducated, ignorant, < (jr. i(S/wn/if, private, 
unprofessional, unskilful, rude, < IOIUTTK, a pri- 
vate person: see idiot and -it:] If. Uncul- 
tured; plain; simple. See extract under idiot- 
ical. 2. Pertaining to or resembling an idiot; 
afflicted with idiocy ; having the quality of idi- 
ocy ; very foolish ; stupid. 
The stupid succession [of Epicureans] persisted in main- 
taining that the Sun, Moon, and Stars were no bigger than 
they appear to the eye, and other such idiotic stufl against 
mathematical demonstration. 
BenOey, Free-Thinking, 49. 
idiotica, . Plural of idioticon. 
idioticalt (id-i-ot'i-kal), a. [< idiotic + -al.] 
1. Same as idiotic, 1. 
Truth is content, when it comes into the world, to wear 
our mantles, to learn our language ; it speaks to the most 
idiotical sort of men in the most idiotical way. The rea- 
son of this plain and idiotical style of Scripture it may be 
worth our farther taking notice of. 
J. Smith, Select Discourses, VI., On Prophecy. 
2. Same as idiotic, 2. 
idiotically (id-i-ot'i-kal-i), adv. In an idiotic 
manner; very foolishly. 
You are idiotically shouting yourself black in the face. 
Sci. Amer., N. S., LVI. 106. 
idioticalness (id-i-ot'i-kal-nes), n. The state 
of being an idiot. Bailey, 1731. [Rare.] 
idioticon (id-i-ot'i-kon), n. ; pi. idiotica (-ka). 
[NL., < Gr. i&iuTin6v, neut. of Itmruelf, private, 
taken in the sense of ioioc, peculiar to oneself : 
see idiotic and idiom.] A vocabulary or word- 
book of a particular dialect ; a dictionary of 
words and phrases peculiar to one part of a 
country. [Rare.] 
idiotish (id'i-ot-ish), a. [= Dan. Sw. idiotisk; 
as idiot + -js/i 1 .] Idiotic. 
And euerye man thought his own wysdome best, which 
God hath proued stark folyshnesse all, and moost ydiot- 
yihe dottage. Bp. Bale, Image of the Two Churches, t 
idiotism (id'i-ot-izm), n. [Formerly also ideot- 
ism ; = D. G. tdiotismus = Dan. idiotisme = Sw. 
idiotism = F. idiotisme = Sp. Pg. It. idiotismo, 
< L. idiotismns, < Gr. \itaraiftAe. the way or fash- 
ion of a common person, a homely or vulgar 
phrase, (. liturifetv, put into common language, 
< i6t<JTr/f, a private person, a common person : 
see idiot and -ism.'] 1. An idiom; a peculiarity 
of phrase ; acurrent deviation ordeparture from 
the strict syntactical rules or usages of a lan- 
guage. 
Scholars . . . sometimes . . . give terminations and 
idiotittmi suitable to their native language unto words 
newly invented or translated out of other languages. 
Sir M. Hale, Orig. of Mankind, p. 165. 
When they [the apostles] came therefore to talk of the 
great doctrines of the cross, to preach up the astonishing 
truths of the Gospel ; they brought to be sure their old 
idiotiems and plainness of speech along with them. 
Bp. Atteruury, Sermons, II. ix. 
The expression "in or with respect" is an idiotiim. 
F. Hall, Mod. Eng., p. 85. 
2. A personal peculiarity of expression. [Rare.] 
Idiotiim, or the use which is confined to an individual 
H. N. Day, Art of Discourse, 287. 
3. Idiocy ; the state of being an idiot. [Rare.] 
To say that this matter [the earth] was the cause of it- 
self, this, of all other, were the greatest idiotism. 
Raleigh, Hist World, Pref., p. 49. 
If in reality his philosophy be foreign to the matter pro- 
fessed, ... it must be somewhat worse than mere igno- 
rance or idiotism. 
Shaftesbury, Advice to an Author, iii. 1. 
The soul sinks into a kind of sleepy idiotism, and is di- 
verted by toys and baubles. Goldsmith, Taste. 
idiotize (id'i-ot-iz), v. i. ; pret. and pp. idiotized, 
ppr. idiotizing. [< idiot + -ige. Cf. Gr. liaj/ri&iv, 
put into common language : see idiotism."] To 
become stupid. [Rare.] 
idiotry (id'i-ot-ri), n. [< idiot + -ry.] Idiocy. 
[Rare.] 
I still keep up my correspondence with him, notwith- 
standing his idwtry ; for it is my principle to be constant 
in my friendships. 
Warburton, Note in Pope's Works (ed. 1751), V. 22. 
Idiqtypa (id-i-ot'i-pa), re. [NL., < Gr. liioc, pe- 
culiar, + TVKOC, type.] 1 . A genus of hymenop- 
terous parasites, of the subfamily Dtaprtfaa, 
having the fore wings with a basal vein. Only 
European species are known. Forster, 1856. 
2. A genus of ortalid flies, containing one Cu- 
ban species. Loew, 1873. 
idiotype (id'i-o-tip), n. [< Gr. t<5<o?, peculiar, + 
ri'jrof, type.] An object or a substance typical 
of a class; one of a series exhibiting like pe- 
culiarities. "A term applied by Guthrie (Chem. Soc. 
Jour., xiii. 35) to bodies derived by replacement from the 
idle 
same substance, including the typical substance itself; am- 
monia, for example, is icliotj pic with ethylamiiie, phenyla- 
mine, and all the organic bases derived from it by substi- 
tution, and these are tdiotypic one with the other. The 
same term was applied by \Vackenrpder (J. pi', rlifin., xxiv. 
18) to certain non-crystalline organic bodies which, accord- 
ing to his observations, exhibit certain similarities of utruc- 
ture." (Watt.) 
idiotypic (id"i-o-tip'ik), . [< idiotype + -ic.~\ 
Of or related to a particular class or type. See 
icKotype, 
idle (i'dl), a. and . [< ME. idtl, < AS. idd, emp- 
ty, useless, vain, = OS. idal, Mil = OFries. idel 
= D. ijdel, vain, frivolous, trifling, = MLG. LG. 
idel, empty, mere, = OHG. Hal, empty, useless, 
mere, MHG. itcl, G. eitel, vain, conceited, tri- 
fling, = Sw. idel, sheer, pure, downright, = Dan. 
idel, sheer, mere, perhaps orig. ' clear,' = Gr. 
Wapof, clear, pure (of springs), of common root 
with Gr. aitirip, the upper, purer air (see ether*, 
cethrioscope), ai6ctv, burn, Skt. -\/ indh, kindle, 
AS. ad, a fire, a funeral pile, oat, E. oast, a kiln: 
see oast.'] I. a. 1. Empty; vacant; not occu- 
pied : as, idle hours. 
Huo thet wyle thanne by yherd ; ne come najt beuore 
god mid zuorde adrage and mid blodi honden ne ydel hon- 
den. Ayenbyte of Inu-it (E. E. T. S.), p. 218. 
Repent at idle times as thou may'st. 
Shak., 2 Hen. IV., it 2. 
Dozing out all his idle noons, 
And ev'ry night at play. 
Cowper, Epitaph on a Hare. 
2. Not engaged in any occupation or employ- 
ment ; unemployed ; inactive ; doing nothing. 
The bee has thre kyndis [characteristics]. Aiie es that 
scho es neuer ydlll. 
Hampole, Prose Treatises (E. E. T. S.), p. 8. 
Why stand ye here all the day idle I Mat xx. . 
The Queen sat idle by her loom. 
D. 0. Jtossetti, Staff and Scrip. 
3. In a state of disuse ; remaining unused. 
Of antres vast, and desarts idle, 
Hough quarries, rocks, and hills whose heads touch hea- 
It was my hint to speak. Shak., Othello, I 8. 
The idle spear and shield were high up hung. 
Milton, Nativity, 1. 55. 
4. Useless; ineffectual; vain; bootless; una- 
vailing; futile: as, idferage. 
They pass by me as the idle wind, 
Which I respect not. Shak., J. C., Iv. 3. 
Apologies are idle things ; I will not trouble you with 
them. Washington, in Bancroft's Hist Const, I. 400. 
Yet life I hold but idle breath, 
When love or honour's weighed with death. 
Scott, L. of the L., iv. 17. 
5. Of no importance ; trivial; irrelevant; flip- 
pant; pointless; unprofitable: as, an idle story. 
He did not smile, and say to himself that this was an 
idle whim. 0. W. Holmes, A Mortal Antipathy, vi. 
Honour and shame, truth, lies, and weal and woe, 
Seemed idle words, whose meaning none might know. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, II. 302. 
6. Acting idly or unconcernedly; careless; in- 
different. 
They are coming to the play ; I must be idle. 
Skah., Hamlet, ill 2. 
7. Slothful ; given to rest and ease ; averse to 
labor; lazy: as, an idle fellow. 
Gladde was Gaheret hem to be-holden, and so was his 
companye, that a-gein diden so well that noon was foun- 
den cowarde ne ydell. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 285. 
Will he be idle who has much t' enjoy? 
Me therefore studious of laborious ease, 
Not slothful. Cowper, Task, ill. 360. 
8f. Wandering in mind ; light-headed: an oc- 
casional use in old plays. Halliwell. 
Kath. Why do you talk so? 
Would you were fast asleep ! 
Frank. No, no, I'm not idle. 
Ford and Dekker, Witch of Edmonton, iv. 2. 
Idle wormst, wormswhich were believed or humorously 
said to breed in the fingers of an idle person. 
Keep thy hands in thy muff, and warm the idle -worms 
in thy fingers' ends. Beau, and Fl., Womau-Hater, iii. 1. 
Shakspere refers to this belief in the following passage : 
Her waggoner, a small gray-coated gnat, 
Not half so big as a round little worm 
Prick d from the lazy finger of a maid. 
Shak., R. and J., L 4. 
TO run Idle, to run loose, without transmitting power or 
producing effect : said of parts of machinery, as a loose 
pulley, which serves only to preserve a strain on the driv- 
ing-belt. = Syn. 6 and 7. Itiactice, Inert, Idle, Lazy, In- 
dolent, Slothful, Sluggish. The first three of these words 
are not necessarily unfavorable in meaning ; the next four 
are always so. Circumstances may make a man inac- 
tive ; he may be idle for lack of work, or may rest from 
toil by taking an idle hour; disease mny leave him quite 
inert; but it is blameworthy to be lazy, etc. Fabius 
showed a masterly inactivity In opposition to Hannibal, 
but one may be inactive when he ought to be at work. 
All the words often apply to character or temperament, 
and the last four always do so. To be inert is to be like 
dead matter, destitute of motion or activity. To be idle In 
