lunatic

English

Alternative forms

• lunatick (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English lunatik, from Old French lunatique, from Late Latin lunaticus (“moonstruck”), derived from Latin luna (“moon”), the connection stemming from the belief that changes of the moon caused intermittent insanity.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈluːnətɪk/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

Noun

lunatic (plural lunatics)

1. An insane person.
   • 1902, Hilaire Belloc, The Path to Rome:

     While there are other races (or individuals—heaven forgive me, I am no ethnologist) who think you a criminal or a lunatic unless you carefully plod along from step to step like a hippopotamus out of water.

Synonyms

• moonling
• See also Thesaurus:mad person

Derived terms

• lunacy
• lunatical
• lunatic asylum
• lunatic fringe
• lunatics have taken over the asylum

Translations

insane person

• Bashkir: иҫәр (iśər), диуана (diwana), алйот (alyot), тиле (tile), йүләр (yülər), тинтәк (tintək), һантый (hantıy)
• Bulgarian: луд (bg) m (lud)
• Cherokee: ᎤᎸᏅᏘᏍᎩ (ulvnvtisgi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 瘋子／疯子 (zh) (fēngzi), 狂人 (zh) (kuángrén)

• Czech: šílenec (cs) m, blázen (cs) m
• Dutch: gek (nl) m, gekkin (nl) f, zot (nl) m, zottin (nl) f
• Esperanto: lunatiko
• Finnish: hullu (fi), kuuhullu, mielipuoli (fi)
• French: dément (fr) m, démente (fr) f, aliéné (fr) m, aliénée (fr) f, lunatique (fr) m or f, déséquilibré (fr) f
• German: Irre (de) m or f
• Hiligaynon: buangit, rendido ang ulo
• Hungarian: holdkóros (hu) sg, havas (hu) sg (archaic)
• Icelandic: brjálæðingur (is) m, geðsjúklingur (is) m
• Interlingua: folle
• Irish: gealt f
• Italian: demente (it) m or f
• Japanese: 気違い (ja) (kichigai)
• Kikuyu: mũgũrũki class 1
• Korean: 미치광이 (ko) (michigwang'i)
• Macedonian: лудак m (ludak)
• Maori: porowairangi
• Norman: leunatique m
• Occitan: lunatic, baug (oc), fòl (oc)
• Ottoman Turkish: دلی (deli), مجنون (mecnūn)
• Polish: wariat (pl) m, szaleniec (pl) m
• Portuguese: lunático (pt) m, lunática (pt) f
• Romanian: nebun (ro) m, nebună (ro) f
• Russian: псих (ru) m (psix), душевнобольно́й (ru) m (duševnobolʹnój), сумасше́дший (ru) m (sumasšédšij), поме́шанный (ru) m (poméšannyj), чо́кнутый (ru) m (čóknutyj) (colloquial)
• Serbo-Croatian: bezumnik (sh)
• Slovak: šialenec m, blázon m
• Spanish: insano (es) m, orate (es)
• Swedish: galning (sv) c, dåre (sv) c, knäppgök (sv) c
• Tagalog: baliw (tl), sira-ulo
• Turkish: deli (tr)

Adjective

lunatic (comparative more lunatic, superlative most lunatic)

1. Crazed, mad, insane, demented.

Synonyms

• crazed, insane, mad, demented, maniacal, psychotic; see also Thesaurus:insane

Derived terms

• lunatically

Related terms

• lunatic soup
• de lunatico inquirendo

Translations

crazed

• Bulgarian: луд (bg) (lud), побъркан (bg) (pobǎrkan)
• Catalan: llunàtic (ca)
• Czech: šílený (cs), bláznivý (cs)
• Esperanto: lunatika
• Finnish: hullu (fi)
• French: lunatique (fr)
• Hebrew: סַהֲרוּרִי (he) m (saharurí)
• Irish: gealtach, gan chiall
• Latin: lunaticus
• Norman: leunatique
• Portuguese: lunático (pt)
• Russian: сумасше́дший (ru) (sumasšédšij), душевнобольно́й (ru) (duševnobolʹnój), поме́шанный (ru) (poméšannyj), чо́кнутый (ru) (čóknutyj) (colloquial)
• Slovak: šialený, bláznivý
• Spanish: lunático (es)

Further reading

• Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.

Anagrams

• cut nail, tunical

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /luˈna.tik/

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin lūnāticus, equivalent to lună +‎ -atic.

Alternative forms

• lunatec

Noun

lunatic m (plural lunatici)

1. somnambulist, sleepwalker

   Synonyms: somnambul, somnambulist, noctambul

2. (rare) dullard, fool, scatterbrain

   Synonyms: prostănac, cretin

Declension

Declension of lunatic

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) lunatic	lunaticul	(niște) lunatici	lunaticii
genitive/dative	(unui) lunatic	lunaticului	(unor) lunatici	lunaticilor
vocative	lunaticule		lunaticilor

Adjective

lunatic m or n (feminine singular lunatică, masculine plural lunatici, feminine and neuter plural lunatice)

1. (popular, rare) born in the same month as another

Declension

Declension of lunatic

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	lunatic		lunatică	lunatici	lunatice
	definite	lunaticul		lunatica	lunaticii	lunaticele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	lunatic		lunatice	lunatici	lunatice
	definite	lunaticului		lunaticei	lunaticilor	lunaticelor

Related terms

• lună

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French lunatique, Italian lunatico.

Adjective

lunatic m or n (feminine singular lunatică, masculine plural lunatici, feminine and neuter plural lunatice)

1. (rare) having hallucinations
2. (rare) fantastic, unreal, bizarre
3. having unusual or strange ideas and behavior
4. (rare) fearful

Declension

Declension of lunatic

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	lunatic		lunatică	lunatici	lunatice
	definite	lunaticul		lunatica	lunaticii	lunaticele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	lunatic		lunatice	lunatici	lunatice
	definite	lunaticului		lunaticei	lunaticilor	lunaticelor

See also

• zăpăcit

Further reading

• lunatic in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)