- moron
- 1910, from Gk. (Attic) moron, neut. of moros "foolish, dull" (probably cognate with Skt. murah "idiotic;" L. morus "foolish" is a loan-word from Gk.). Adopted by the American Association for the Study of the Feeble-minded with a technical definition "adult with a mental age between 8 and 12;" used as an insult since 1922 and subsequently dropped from technical use. Linnĉus had introduced morisis "idiocy."
- imbecile
- 1540s, imbecille (adj.) "weak, feeble" (especially in reference to body), from M.Fr. imbecile (15c.), from L. imbecillus "weak, feeble" (see imbecility). Sense shifted to mental weakness from mid-18c. As a noun, it is attested from 1802. Traditionally one with a mental age of roughly 6 to 9 (ahead of an idiot but beneath a moron).
- sycamore
- c.1350, from O.Fr. sicamor, from L. sycomorus, from Gk. sykomoros, from sykon "fig" + moron "mulberry." Or perhaps a folk-etymology for Heb. shiqmah "mulberry." A Biblical word, originally used for a species of fig tree (Ficus sycomorus) common in Egypt, Syria, etc., whose leaves somewhat resemble those of the mulberry; applied from 1588 to Acer pseudoplatanus, a large species of European maple, and from 1814 to the North American shade tree that is also called buttonwood (Platanus occidentalis, introduced to Europe from Virginia 1637 by Filius Tradescant). Some writers have used the more Hellenic sycomore in ref. to the Biblical tree for the sake of clarity.