lunatic

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a person with severe mental illness

   The lunatic was taken away by the authorities.

2. 2
   noun

   someone who acts wildly or foolishly

   He's a lunatic for trying to climb the mountain alone.

3. 3
   adj

   extremely foolish or irrational

   It was a lunatic plan with no chance of success.

4. 4
   adj

   (archaic) relating to the moon or believed to be affected by its phases

   Old beliefs held that lunatic behavior followed the lunar cycle.

From Latin lūna ("moon") + -āticus ("pertaining to"), giving lunaticus ("moonstruck, insane"); via Old French lunatique and Middle English lunatike (14th c.) into Modern English lunatic, reflecting the medieval belief that lunar cycles affected behavior.

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