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What does a Nincompoop mean?

What's the definition of a Nincompoop?


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Nincompoop: How the Word Originated

The English language has created a lot of words that are awkward or funny to pronounce with. The word “nincompoop” is said to have originated from different words. This word actually means stupid person or incompetent, often loony and dumb. Sometimes, the word is used to degrade a person of lower societal ranking or the indigent ones.

How the word originated is still a mystery to a lot of people especially that “nincompoop” does sound weird and funny. A lot of theories tried to explain the origins of this word since looking at the word structure, it doesn’t make sense at all. Some theories suggest that there are plays in the late 1600s wherein the word “nincompoop” was first uttered. The play called “The Plain Dealer” which was written by William Wycherley, a British playwright in 1676, the term was said to be first uttered along with a series of terms that are synonymous with dumb. The line goes like this: “…senseless, impertinent, quibbling, driveling, feeble, paralytic, impotent, frigid nincompoop.”
Some would argue that the origin of the word comes from the different languages and terms used. The word is just a mixture of several words. Take for example, the word “poop” which is of Dutch origin means “fool” or stupid. The term “poop” was said to be combined with the word “ninny,” which means gullible or lunatic. So, nincompoop came to be, as what others have suggested.

Another theory suggested that the term “nincompoop” originated from a Latin phrase “non compos mentis,” which means “not of sound mind.” Some even suggests that the term comes from a French term “ne comprend pas,” which means “he does not understand.” Some say that the term comes from the Latin and French origins mixed together. However, not everyone believed in this theory since the term is way different from terms it is said to come from. But no matter where the term “nincompoop” comes from, it is now widely accepted in the English vocabulary.
Feb 19th, 2013 at 5:12 AM
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