IDT 
nam £? in vindiflatn criminis. commifji\ and therefore it Is 
clearly agreed, that if one who wants discretion commits 
a trefpals againft the perfon or pofleffion of another, he 
ftiall he compelled in a civil aCtion to give latisfaClion for 
the damage. * Roll. Abr. 547. Hob. 134. Co. Lit. 247. 1 Hawk. 
P. C. 2. 
As to idiocy, lunacy, or madnefs, (the latter of which 
is denned by Hale to be a total alienation of the mind,) 
which excuies in capital cafes, it is not neceflary that it 
Was found by in'quifition that the party was a madman, 
idiot, or lunatic, previous to the commitment of the faff ; 
for, if he was actually mad at the time of the fad commit¬ 
ted, this (hall excufe ; and this regularly is to be tried 
by an inqueft of office to be returned by the (heriff of the 
county wherein the court fits for the trial of the offence; 
and, if it be found that he was actually mad, he (hall be 
difcharged without any other trial; but if they find that 
the party only feigns himfelf mad, and he refufes to an- 
iwer of plead, he (hall be dealt with as one who ftands 
mute. But thefe defects, whether permanent or tempo¬ 
rary, muff be unequivocal and plain; not an idle frantic 
humour or unaccountable mode of action, but an abfo- 
lute difpcffeffion of the free and natural agency of the hu¬ 
man mind. 1 Hal. P. C. c. 4. 1 Hawk. P. C. c. 1. 
ID'IOM, f [icimy.a, Gr. propriety ; of proper, 
own.] A mode of (peaking peculiar to a language or dia¬ 
lect ; the particular caff of a tongue; a phrale ; phrafeo- 
logy.—He did romanize our tongue, leaving the words 
tranllated as much Latin as he found them; wherein he 
followed their language, but did not comply with the 
idiom of ours. Drydtn. 
Some that with care true eloquence (hall teach, 
And to juft idioms fix out doubtful fpeech. Prior. 
IDIOMAT'IC, or Idiomatical, adj. Peculiar to a 
tongue; phraieological.—Since phrafes ufed in converfa- 
tion contraft meannefs by paffing through the mouths of 
the vulgar, a poet (hoold guard himfelf againft idiomatic 
ways of fpeaking. SpcElator. 
IDIOMATICALLY ,adv. In the manner of an idiom. 
IDIOPATHET'ICAL, adj. [from id top a thy.'] Primary; 
peculiar to itfelf. 
IDIOP'ATHY, f [idiopathic, Fr. from iJiof, proper, and 
sra 0 oc, a difeafe.] A primary difeafe that neither depends 
on nor proceeds from another. Ouincy. 
IDIOSYN'CRASY, Jj. [from the Greek, iJio?, peculiar, 
and (TvyKcunc, a conftitution..] A peculiar temper or dilpofi- 
tion of body not common to another. Quincy. —Whether 
quails, from any idiofyncrafy or peculiarity of conftitution, 
do innocuoufly. feed upon hellebore, or rather fometimes 
but medicinally ufe the fame. Brown. —The underftand- 
ing alio hath its idiofyncrafes, as well as other faculties. 
Glanville. 
IDIOSYNCRATIC, adj. Peculiar in temper or con¬ 
ftitution. 
ID'IOT, or Ideot, f. in our laws, denotes a natural 
fool, or a fool from his birth. See Idiocy. The word is 
originally Greek, tSi urr,c, which primarily imports a pri¬ 
vate perfon, or one who leads a private life, without any 
(hare or concern in the government of affairs.—What elfe 
doth he herein, than by a.kind of circumlocution tell bis 
humble fuppliants that he holds them ideots, or bafe 
wretches, not able to get relief? Raleigh. —Many ideots will 
believe that they fee what they only hear. Dennis . 
By idle boys and ideots vilify’d. 
Who me and my calamities deride. Sandys. 
ID'IOTISM, /! [idiotifme, Fr. from t-SW'ric-yo;, Gr.] Pecu¬ 
liarity of expreflion ; mode of expreffion peculiar to a lan¬ 
guage.—Scholars fometimes in common fpeech, or writing, 
in theirnative language, give terminations- and idiotifms fuit- 
able to their native language unto words newly invented. 
Hale. —Folly ; natural imbecility of mind. 
IDISTAVI'SUS, a plain, now Hajlenback, where Ger- 
manicus defeated Arnriniusj near Oldendorp, on the We- 
ier, in Weftphalia, 
i d h 739 
I'DLE, adj. [ybel, Sax.] Lazy; averfe from labour.—• 
Forftiame! (b much to do, and yet idle. Bull. —Not en¬ 
gaged ; affording leifure.—For often have you writ to her; 
and (he in modefty, or elfe for want of idle time, could 
not again reply. Shakcfpeare. —-UnaCtive; not employed.— 
Children generally hate to be idle-, all the care then is, 
that their buly humour lhould be conltantly employed'in 
fomething of ufe to them. Locke. 
No war or battle’s found 
Was heard the world around, 
The idle fpeiw and ihield were high up hung. Milton. 
Ufelefs; vain; ineffectual:. 
Why dept the lightning and the thunderbolts. 
Or bent their idle rage on fields and trees. 
When vengeance call’d ’em here ? , Dry den a 
Unfruitful; barren; not produ&ive of good : 
Crown’d with rank fumiterand furrow weeds. 
Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow 
In our fuftaining corn. Shakcfpeare. 
Trifling; of no importance ;,as, an idle ftory.—They are 
not, in our eftimation, idle reproofs, when the author,s of 
needlefs innovations are oppofed with Inch negatives. 
How ate thefe new devifes brought.in, which our fathers 
never knew-? Hooker. 
His friend fmil’d fcornful, and, with proud contempt, 
Rejefts as idle what his fellow dreamt. Drydtn. 
To I'DLE, v. n. To lofe time in lazinefs and inactivity 
Yet free from this poetic madnefs, 
Next page he fays, in fober fadnefs,'. - 
That (lie, and all her fellqw-gods, 
Sit idling in their high abodes. - Prior. 
To I'DLE, v. a. To wafte idly.—If you have but an 
hour, will you improve that hour inftead of idling it away? 
Che/lerfield. 
I'DLE, a river of England, which rifes near Mansfield,, 
in the county of Nottingham, and joins the Trent, a few 
miles before its conflux with the Oule. 
IDLE-HEADED, adj. Foolifti; unreafonable.—Thefe 
idle-headed feekers refort thither. Carew. —Delirious ; infa¬ 
tuated.—Upon this lofs (he fell idle-headed, and to this very 
day ftands near the place (till. Id Ef range. 
I'DLENESS, f. Lazinefs; (loth; (luggifhnefs; averfion 
from labour.—Nor is excefs the only thing by which fin 
breaks men in their health, and the comfortable enjoy¬ 
ment of themfelves; but many are alfo brought to a very 
ill and languilhing habit of body by mere idlenefs, and 
idlenefs is both itfelf a great fin, and the caule of many 
more. South. —Abfence of employment.—All which yet 
could not make us accule her, though it made us pine 
away for fpite, to lofe any of our time in fo troublefome 
an idlenefs. Sidney. 
He, fearing idlpiefs, the nurfe of ill. 
In fculpture exercis’d his happy (kill. Dry den* 
Omifiion of bufinefs: 
Ten thoufand harms, more than the ills I know. 
My idlenefs doth hatch. Shakefpeare 
Unimportance; trivialnefs : 
To the Englifh court affemble now. 
From ev’ry region, apes of idlenefs. Shakefpeare, 
Inefficacy; uleleffnefs. Barrennefs; worthleflhefs. Un~ 
reafonablenefs; want of judgment; foolifhnefs; madnefs. 
•—There is no heat of affeClion, but is joined with fome 
idlenefs of brain. Bacon. 
Idlenefs in any perfon whatfoever is a high offence 
againft the public economy. In China it is a maxim, that" 
if there be a man who does not work, or a woman that i§ 
idle, in the empire, homebody muft fuffer cold or hunger 3 
the produce of the lands not being more than fufficient s 
with culture, to maintain the inhabitants; and therefore,, 
though the idle perfon may drift off the want from him- 
felfj. 
