batty

adj

Etymology: From bat + -y. In sense “insane”, attested 1903, from expression have bats in one's belfry, from tendency of bats to fly around erratically. Compare also batshit (“insane”) and squirrelly (“jumpy, eccentric”).

1. Mad, crazy, silly.

   “On Sunday’s David Frost Show, Baroness Thatcher looked quite batty to me, eyes rolling.”

2. Belonging to, or resembling, a bat (mammal).

   “And from each other look thou lead them thus Till o'er their brows death-counterfeiting sleep With leaden legs and batty wings doth creep.”

name

Etymology: From Batte, a Middle English pet-form of Bartholomew.

1. A surname transferred from the given name.

noun

1. Obsolete form of paddy (“rice”).

   “The rice, or batty, is sown in June, at the commencement of the periodical rains; […]”