idiot
Sign in to savethumb|The Idiot by Evert Larock (1892)
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9 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Disability and early classification and nomenclature
- Regional law
- United States
- In literature
- References
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thumb|The Idiot by Evert Larock (1892)
An idiot, in modern use, is a stupid or foolish person. 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 The term was gradually replaced by "profound mental retardation", which has since been replaced by other terms.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, retard and cretin, its use to describe people with mental disabilities is considered archaic and offensive. Moral idiocy is the inability to distinguish between right and wrong.