nincompoop

[prettygoodword]

nincompoop - n., a fool, a simpleton, a stupid person.


Late 17th century slang of unknown origin.

---L.

Comments

Re: unknown?

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

Howdy, Paul. Good to see your phosphors, at least. For that theory, I can only quote from the Online Etymology Dictionary (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=nincompoop):

1676, nicompoop. Despite similarity [noted by Johnson] to L. legal phrase non compos mentis "insane, mentally incompetent" (1607), the connection is denied by etymologists because the earliest forms lack the second -n-. Weekley thinks first element may be a proper name, and cites Nicodemus, which he says was used in Fr. for "a fool," or Nicholas.

The other dictionaries just say "unknown."

---L.