Wordwyrt

lunatic

/ˈluːnəˌtɪk/LOO-nuh-tik
/ˈlunəˌtɪk/LOO-nuh-tik

Meaningmoonstruck

Common meaning: a person thought insane

Other meanings: an old legal and medical term, now offensive in that use

Journey through time

  1. Latinlūna, -ae‘the moon’
  2. Middle Englishlunatiksource
  3. Englishlunatic‘a person thought insane’ · today

lun also in: lunar

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin lūna ‘the moon’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry LUNATIC, p. 345 · dictionary scan

Roots

Related words

lunar

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