What did "stupid" mean?
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“
Fool.
This word is said of a few birds of prey which have not yet flown and which have been taken from the nest.
A stupid falcon
”, we can read in Richelet's Dictionary of French, published in 1680. We know what man owes to animals.
Aesop and La Fontaine have taught us this well through their fables.
So, is the foolish bird at the origin of our naivety?
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What is the origin of the word "stupid"?
Everything suggests, according to Furetière.
In his Dictionary of 1690, the author notes with the etymologist Gilles Ménage that he comes from nideusis (taken in the nest) before quoting the scholar Pierre Borel, a botanist, who "
derives it from the Hebrew nies, which means dizzy
”.
The parallel between the bird that has not yet left the nest and the dull, who has no use of the world is therefore transparent.
From the thirteenth century, we speak of the stupid as a "
fool for lack of experience, excess of simplicity
."
Read alsoTen words with a naughty second meaning
But more than a personality trait, the word is also used to describe a profession: "
The best jesters."
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