idiocy

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   extremely foolish behavior, an absurd act, or a serious lack of good judgment

   Ignoring repeated safety warnings was an act of sheer idiocy.

2. 2
   noun

   an obsolete and now offensive medical label for profound intellectual disability

   The archive uses idiocy as a historical diagnostic label that is no longer acceptable in clinical practice.

From French idiotie, based on idiot, with the noun-forming ending represented in English by -cy. Idiot ultimately comes through Latin idiota from Ancient Greek idiotes ("private person; layperson"). Its meaning shifted from an ordinary or unskilled person to a disparaging judgment about intelligence.

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