"Loony" redirects here. For the Canadian 1 dollar coin, see
Loonie. For similar terms, see
Looney.
Lunatic is a term referring to a person who is seen as
mentally ill,
dangerous,
foolish,[1][2] or
crazy—conditions once attributed to "lunacy". The word derives from lunaticus meaning "of the moon" or "moonstruck".[3][4][5]
History
The term "lunatic" derives from the Latin word
lunaticus, which originally referred mainly to
epilepsy and
madness, as diseases thought to be caused by the moon.[7][8][9][10] The
King James Version of the Bible records "lunatick" in the
Gospel of Matthew, which has been interpreted as a reference to epilepsy.[7] By the fourth and fifth centuries,[clarification needed] astrologers were commonly using the term to refer to neurological and psychiatric diseases.[7][11]Pliny the Elder argued that the full moon induced individuals to lunacy and epilepsy by effects on the brain analogous to the nocturnal
dew.[12] Until at least 1700, it was also a common belief that the moon influenced fevers, rheumatism, episodes of epilepsy and other diseases. There is also a Greek goddess named luna.[13]
On December 5, 2012, the US House of Representatives passed legislation approved earlier by the US Senate removing the word "lunatic" from all federal laws in the United States.[3] President Barack Obama signed the
21st Century Language Act of 2012[14] into law on December 28, 2012.[15]
"Of unsound mind" or non compos mentis are alternatives to "lunatic", the most conspicuous term used for insanity in the law in the late 19th century.[16]
Later, members of the
Lunar Society of
Birmingham called themselves lunaticks.[18] In an age with little street lighting, the society met on or near the night of the full moon.[19]
^Great Britain Census Office (1902). "Census of England and Wales, 1901. (63 Vict. C.4.): Middlesex. 1902". Census of England and Wales, 1901. 33. H.M. Stationery Office: xi.
^Vermont Commission to Revise the Statutory Laws (1933). "The Public Laws of Vermont, 1933: (proposed Revision)". The Public Laws of Vermont. Capital City Press, 1933: 424.
^Rotton, James; Kelly, I. W. (1985). "Much ado about the full moon: A meta-analysis of lunar-lunacy research". Psychological Bulletin. 97 (2): 286–306.
doi:
10.1037/0033-2909.97.2.286.
PMID3885282.
^Forbes, Lebo Jr., Gordon B., George R (1977). "Antisocial Behavior and Lunar Activity: A Failure to Validate the Lunacy Myth". Psychological Reports. 40 (3 Pt. 2): 1309–1310.
doi:
10.2466/pr0.1977.40.3c.1309.
PMID897044.
S2CID34308541.{{
cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)
^Heydon, C. (1792). Astrology. The wisdom of Solomon in miniature, being a new doctrine of nativities, reduced to accuracy and certainty ... Also, a curious collection of nativities, never before published. London: printed for A. Hamilton.
ISBN9781170010471.
^
abcRiva, M. A.; Tremolizzo, L.; Spicci, M; Ferrarese, C; De Vito, G; Cesana, G. C.; Sironi, V. A. (January 2011). "The Disease of the Moon: The Linguistic and Pathological Evolution of the English Term "Lunatic"". Journal of the History of the Neurosciences. 20 (1): 65–73.
doi:
10.1080/0964704X.2010.481101.
PMID21253941.
S2CID5886130.
^Raison, Charles L.; Klein, Haven M.; Steckler, Morgan (1999). "The moon and madness reconsidered". Journal of Affective Disorders. 53 (1): 99–106.
doi:
10.1016/S0165-0327(99)00016-6.
PMID10363673.
^Harrison, Mark (2000). "From medical astrology to medical astronomy: sol-lunar and planetary theories of disease in British medicine, c. 1700–1850". The British Journal for the History of Science. 33 (1): 25–48.
doi:
10.1017/S0007087499003854.
PMID11624340.
S2CID22247498.
^
abSobel, Dava (2010). Longitude (10th anniversary ed.). Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 87.
ISBN978-0802799678.
^Ian Wylie. "Coleridge and the Lunaticks". In Gravil, Richard; Lefebure, Molly (eds.). The Coleridge Connection: Essays for Thomas McFarland. 1990: Springer. pp. 25–26.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (
link)