הֶדְיוֹט m.n. PBH 1 a private man, a layman, a common person. 2 a vulgar person, boor. 3 a silly person. [Gk. idiotes (= private person, one not holding office; layman; an ignorant), from idios (= one’s own, private, personal, separated, distinct), from IE base * swed-yos, from base * swed– (= separate, set apart), whence also L. sed (= but), sēd, sē (= without), ultimately from IE reflexive base * swe–, * se–. See ‘se–’ in my CEDEL and cp. words there referred to.] Derivatives: הֶדְיוֹטוּת, הֶדְיוֹטִי, הדיט.