lunatic

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lu·na·tic / ˈloōnəˌtik/ • n. a mentally ill person (not in technical use). ∎  an extremely foolish or eccentric person: this lunatic just accelerated out of the side of the road.• adj. mentally ill (not in technical use). ∎  extremely foolish, eccentric, or absurd: he would be asked to acquiesce in some lunatic scheme.ORIGIN: Middle English: from Old French lunatique, from late Latin lunaticus, from Latin luna ‘moon’ (from the belief that changes of the moon caused intermittent insanity).

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