An Attempt To Date
Lunacy
July 28, 2015
G.D.O'Bradovich III
lunacy
Courtesy of the Oxford English Dictionary, the connection between lunacy and the full moon is examined. Some references after the year 1801 are omitted.
1 a. The condition of being a lunatic; intermittent insanity such as was formerly supposed to be brought about by the changes of the moon; now applied gen. to any form of insanity (idiocy usually excepted). In legal use, such mental unsoundness as interferes with civil rights or transactions.
†Also, a fit or attack of such insanity. commission of lunacy, a commission, issuing from a court, authorizing an inquiry as to the soundness of a person's mind. commissioner in lunacy,
(a) the title given by the statute of 1842 to two officers then first appointed; in 1845 changed to master in lunacy;
(b) in subsequent use, a member of a board appointed by the Lord Chancellor to inspect asylums and grant licences to private persons who undertake the charge of lunatics. master in lunacy, a legal officer whose duty it is to investigate the mental condition of persons alleged to be insane and to make orders dealing with the persons and estates of lunatics.
1541 Act 33 Hen. VIII c. 20 §1
Suche persons..were..than not mad nor lunatike, but sithen that time fallen to madnes or lunacy.
1603 Shakespeare Hamlet iii. i. 4
Lordes, can you by no meanes finde the cause of our sonne Hamlets lunacie?
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues
Lunatique, Lunaticke, in a Lunacie.
a1616 Shakespeare Hamlet (1623) iii. iii. 7
The termes of our estate, may not endure Hazard so dangerous as doth hourely grow Out of his Lunacies.
1635 J. Swan Speculum Mundi vii. §3. 341
This disease of lunacie, is a disease whose distemper followeth the course of the moon.
1764 R. Burn Hist. Poor Laws 55
Persons, who by lunacy or otherwise are furiously mad.
b. transf. and fig. Mad folly. Often in much weakened sense.
a1592 R. Greene Alcida (1617) sig. E,
One while accusing loue as a lunacie, and then againe [etc.].
c1616 R. C. Times' Whistle (1871) iv. 1549
The hellish & mad lunacy Of them that doe commit apostacie For gold.
1733 G. Cheyne Eng. Malady Pref. p. iii,
To put a Stop to so universal a Lunacy and Madness.
†2. = Moon-blindness. (Cf. lunatic adj. 2b.)
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique i. xxx. 200
The horse-mules are more tractable and more easie to guide and learne, then the mare-mules be. Both of them are subiect to lunacie.
Etymology:
< late Latin lūnāticus,
< Latin lūna moon: see -atic suffix. Compare French lunatique, Spanish lunatico, Italian lunatico.
A. adj.
1 a. Originally, affected with the kind of insanity that was supposed to have recurring periods dependent on the changes of the moon. In mod. use, synonymous with insane adj.; current in popular and legal language, but not now employed technically by physicians.
c1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 369/99
He hadde ane douȝter þat was lunatyke.
1393 Langland Piers Plowman C. x. 107
Þe whiche aren lunatik lollers and leperes a-boute, And mad as þe mone sitt.
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) xvi. xcv. 587
The precyous stone Topazius..helpith ayenst the passyon Lunatyk.
1430–40 Lydgate tr. Bochas Fall of Princes (1554) vii. ii. 165 b,
He was..euery moneth once Lunaticke.
1564 in J. Strype Eccl. Mem. III. App. lviii. 197
All this trouble..was when you were lunatike and not your owne man.
1592 T. Kyd Spanish Trag. iii. sig. F4v, (stage direct.)
She runnes lunatick.
1600 tr. T. Garzoni Hosp. Incurable Fooles 77
If the moone be euill placed, either it maketh men extatical, lunatick, or subiect to the kings euill.
1604 S. Grahame Estate of Worldly Estates iv, in Passionate Sparke sig. E4v,
The greatest Foole is wise if he be rich, And wisedome flowes from his Lunatique brayne.
1640 J. Yorke Union of Honour 110
This Alice fell lunaticke, and was divorced from the said Gilbert.
1759 W. Robertson Hist. Scotl. vii, in Wks. (1813) I. 548
The presumptive heir to the throne was lunatic.
b. Of things: indicating lunacy; crazy.
1608 Shakespeare King Lear vii. 15
Bedlam beggers, who with roring voyces..Sometime with lunaticke bans, sometime with prayers Enforce their charitie.
1631 B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre i. iii. 138 in Wks. II
A notable hypocriticall vermine it is..of a most lunatique conscience, and splene.
c. fig. Madly foolish, frantic, idiotic, ‘mad’.
1571 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Psalmes of Dauid with Comm. (iv. 5)
If lunatik rashnesse have caryed any into sinne.
a1593 Marlowe Edward II (1594) sig. I4,
Greefe makes me lunatick.
1604 T. Dekker & T. Middleton Honest Whore iv. iv. 104,
I am sicke Of that disease, all loue is lunaticke.
1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion To Rdr. sig. A, Nothing [is] esteem'd in this lunatique Age, but what is kept in Cabinets.
†2. a. Influenced by the moon. Obs.
c1430 Lydgate Reson & Sensuallyte 6177
Ther [sc. women's] hertys chaunge never..Ther sect ys no thing lunatyke.
a1592 R. Greene Mamillia (1593) ii. sig. D3v,
By natiuitie they be lunatikes, not taking this worde as the English men do, for starke mad, but as borne vnder the influence of Luna, and therfore as firme..as the melting waxe.
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares 14,
I that was borne to suppresse & treade down sinne vnder foote, in the night time, (when that sinne-inhabited element is wont to be most lunaticke) walke on the crests of the surges as on the dry land.
b. Farriery. Affected with moonblindness; moon-blind, moon-eyed. Obs.
1566 T. Blundeville Order Curing Horses Dis. f. 24v,
in Fower Offices Horsemanshippe Of Lunatike eyes.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iii. f. 124,
The broken wineded, the lunaticke, and the manginesse, called the farcine.
1607 G. Markham Cavelarice Table sig. A2v,
Lunatike eyes or moone eies.
1737 H. Bracken Farriery Improved xvi. 232
In Lunatick or Moon-blind Horses.
B. n.
a. A lunatic person; a person of unsound mind; a madman.
1377 Langland Piers Plowman B. Prol. 123
Thanne loked vp a lunatik, a lene thing with-alle.
c1380 Eng. Wycliffite Serm. in Sel. Wks. II. 23
Lunatikes ben sich men þat han cours of þer siikenesse bi movyng of þe moone.
1600 Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream v. i. 7
The lunatick, the louer, and the Poet are of imagination all compact.
1628 E. Coke 1st Pt. Inst. Lawes Eng. i. 247 a,
A Lunatique that hath sometime his vnderstanding and sometime not.
1735 Motte in Swift's Lett. (1768) IV. 107
An Hospital for Lunaticks and Idiots.
1742 Act 15 Geo. II c. 30
Whereas Persons who have the Misfortune to become Lunaticks, may..be liable to be surprised into unsuitable Marriages.
1757 T. Smollett Reprisal i. viii,
An English lunatic at full moon, is a very sober animal when compared to a Frenchman in a passion.
b. fig. A madly foolish person.
1602 2nd Pt. Returne fr. Parnassus ii. iii. 665
She may be thy Luna, and thou her Lunaticke.
a1631 J. Donne Poems (1650) 4
Vaine lunatique, against these scapes I could Dispute, and conquer, if I would.
Compounds
C1. attrib.
1828 Sir A. Halliday 31
Dumfries has a small lunatic establishment, attached to the County Infirmary.
1885 Times 4 Aug. 9/4
A page from the lunatic entry book had been surreptitiously removed.
C2.
lunatic asylum n. = lunatic house n.
1828 Sir A. Halliday (title)
A General View of the Present State of Lunatics, and Lunatic Asylums, in Great Britain and Ireland.
lunatic hospital n. = lunatic house n.
1762 J. Wesley Jrnl. 21 Dec. (1827) III. 120,
I doubt this is not the case of any other lunatic hospital.
1887 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 2 Apr. 736/1
That the registered lunatic hospitals should not be subjected to special restrictions and disabilities.
†lunatic house n. a hospital established for the reception and treatment of lunatics.
1813 R. Powell in Med. Trans. IV. xi. 139
The proportion of patients returned as having been received into lunatic houses.
lunatic soup n. Austral. and N.Z. slang alcoholic drink.
1933 Bulletin (Sydney) 6 Sept. 42/1
Lunatic soup, as the few fellows about who knew him as Darkie called the brandy he drank.
1941 S. J. Baker Pop. Dict. Austral. Slang 45
Lunatic soup, cheap red wine.
1599 Master Broughtons Lett. viii. 28
The Lunaticall conceits..are thine owne.
1600 M. Sutcliffe Briefe Replie to Libel i. ii. 43
Let this lunaticall or extaticall frier..forbeare to bragge.
1 a. The condition of being a lunatic; intermittent insanity such as was formerly supposed to be brought about by the changes of the moon; now applied gen. to any form of insanity (idiocy usually excepted). In legal use, such mental unsoundness as interferes with civil rights or transactions.
†Also, a fit or attack of such insanity. commission of lunacy, a commission, issuing from a court, authorizing an inquiry as to the soundness of a person's mind. commissioner in lunacy,
(a) the title given by the statute of 1842 to two officers then first appointed; in 1845 changed to master in lunacy;
(b) in subsequent use, a member of a board appointed by the Lord Chancellor to inspect asylums and grant licences to private persons who undertake the charge of lunatics. master in lunacy, a legal officer whose duty it is to investigate the mental condition of persons alleged to be insane and to make orders dealing with the persons and estates of lunatics.
1541 Act 33 Hen. VIII c. 20 §1
Suche persons..were..than not mad nor lunatike, but sithen that time fallen to madnes or lunacy.
1603 Shakespeare Hamlet iii. i. 4
Lordes, can you by no meanes finde the cause of our sonne Hamlets lunacie?
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues
Lunatique, Lunaticke, in a Lunacie.
a1616 Shakespeare Hamlet (1623) iii. iii. 7
The termes of our estate, may not endure Hazard so dangerous as doth hourely grow Out of his Lunacies.
1635 J. Swan Speculum Mundi vii. §3. 341
This disease of lunacie, is a disease whose distemper followeth the course of the moon.
1764 R. Burn Hist. Poor Laws 55
Persons, who by lunacy or otherwise are furiously mad.
b. transf. and fig. Mad folly. Often in much weakened sense.
a1592 R. Greene Alcida (1617) sig. E,
One while accusing loue as a lunacie, and then againe [etc.].
c1616 R. C. Times' Whistle (1871) iv. 1549
The hellish & mad lunacy Of them that doe commit apostacie For gold.
1733 G. Cheyne Eng. Malady Pref. p. iii,
To put a Stop to so universal a Lunacy and Madness.
†2. = Moon-blindness. (Cf. lunatic adj. 2b.)
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique i. xxx. 200
The horse-mules are more tractable and more easie to guide and learne, then the mare-mules be. Both of them are subiect to lunacie.
Etymology:
< late Latin lūnāticus,
< Latin lūna moon: see -atic suffix. Compare French lunatique, Spanish lunatico, Italian lunatico.
A. adj.
1 a. Originally, affected with the kind of insanity that was supposed to have recurring periods dependent on the changes of the moon. In mod. use, synonymous with insane adj.; current in popular and legal language, but not now employed technically by physicians.
c1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 369/99
He hadde ane douȝter þat was lunatyke.
1393 Langland Piers Plowman C. x. 107
Þe whiche aren lunatik lollers and leperes a-boute, And mad as þe mone sitt.
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) xvi. xcv. 587
The precyous stone Topazius..helpith ayenst the passyon Lunatyk.
1430–40 Lydgate tr. Bochas Fall of Princes (1554) vii. ii. 165 b,
He was..euery moneth once Lunaticke.
1564 in J. Strype Eccl. Mem. III. App. lviii. 197
All this trouble..was when you were lunatike and not your owne man.
1592 T. Kyd Spanish Trag. iii. sig. F4v, (stage direct.)
She runnes lunatick.
1600 tr. T. Garzoni Hosp. Incurable Fooles 77
If the moone be euill placed, either it maketh men extatical, lunatick, or subiect to the kings euill.
1604 S. Grahame Estate of Worldly Estates iv, in Passionate Sparke sig. E4v,
The greatest Foole is wise if he be rich, And wisedome flowes from his Lunatique brayne.
1640 J. Yorke Union of Honour 110
This Alice fell lunaticke, and was divorced from the said Gilbert.
1759 W. Robertson Hist. Scotl. vii, in Wks. (1813) I. 548
The presumptive heir to the throne was lunatic.
b. Of things: indicating lunacy; crazy.
1608 Shakespeare King Lear vii. 15
Bedlam beggers, who with roring voyces..Sometime with lunaticke bans, sometime with prayers Enforce their charitie.
1631 B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre i. iii. 138 in Wks. II
A notable hypocriticall vermine it is..of a most lunatique conscience, and splene.
c. fig. Madly foolish, frantic, idiotic, ‘mad’.
1571 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Psalmes of Dauid with Comm. (iv. 5)
If lunatik rashnesse have caryed any into sinne.
a1593 Marlowe Edward II (1594) sig. I4,
Greefe makes me lunatick.
1604 T. Dekker & T. Middleton Honest Whore iv. iv. 104,
I am sicke Of that disease, all loue is lunaticke.
1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion To Rdr. sig. A, Nothing [is] esteem'd in this lunatique Age, but what is kept in Cabinets.
†2. a. Influenced by the moon. Obs.
c1430 Lydgate Reson & Sensuallyte 6177
Ther [sc. women's] hertys chaunge never..Ther sect ys no thing lunatyke.
a1592 R. Greene Mamillia (1593) ii. sig. D3v,
By natiuitie they be lunatikes, not taking this worde as the English men do, for starke mad, but as borne vnder the influence of Luna, and therfore as firme..as the melting waxe.
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares 14,
I that was borne to suppresse & treade down sinne vnder foote, in the night time, (when that sinne-inhabited element is wont to be most lunaticke) walke on the crests of the surges as on the dry land.
b. Farriery. Affected with moonblindness; moon-blind, moon-eyed. Obs.
1566 T. Blundeville Order Curing Horses Dis. f. 24v,
in Fower Offices Horsemanshippe Of Lunatike eyes.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iii. f. 124,
The broken wineded, the lunaticke, and the manginesse, called the farcine.
1607 G. Markham Cavelarice Table sig. A2v,
Lunatike eyes or moone eies.
1737 H. Bracken Farriery Improved xvi. 232
In Lunatick or Moon-blind Horses.
B. n.
a. A lunatic person; a person of unsound mind; a madman.
1377 Langland Piers Plowman B. Prol. 123
Thanne loked vp a lunatik, a lene thing with-alle.
c1380 Eng. Wycliffite Serm. in Sel. Wks. II. 23
Lunatikes ben sich men þat han cours of þer siikenesse bi movyng of þe moone.
1600 Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream v. i. 7
The lunatick, the louer, and the Poet are of imagination all compact.
1628 E. Coke 1st Pt. Inst. Lawes Eng. i. 247 a,
A Lunatique that hath sometime his vnderstanding and sometime not.
1735 Motte in Swift's Lett. (1768) IV. 107
An Hospital for Lunaticks and Idiots.
1742 Act 15 Geo. II c. 30
Whereas Persons who have the Misfortune to become Lunaticks, may..be liable to be surprised into unsuitable Marriages.
1757 T. Smollett Reprisal i. viii,
An English lunatic at full moon, is a very sober animal when compared to a Frenchman in a passion.
b. fig. A madly foolish person.
1602 2nd Pt. Returne fr. Parnassus ii. iii. 665
She may be thy Luna, and thou her Lunaticke.
a1631 J. Donne Poems (1650) 4
Vaine lunatique, against these scapes I could Dispute, and conquer, if I would.
Compounds
C1. attrib.
1828 Sir A. Halliday 31
Dumfries has a small lunatic establishment, attached to the County Infirmary.
1885 Times 4 Aug. 9/4
A page from the lunatic entry book had been surreptitiously removed.
C2.
lunatic asylum n. = lunatic house n.
1828 Sir A. Halliday (title)
A General View of the Present State of Lunatics, and Lunatic Asylums, in Great Britain and Ireland.
lunatic hospital n. = lunatic house n.
1762 J. Wesley Jrnl. 21 Dec. (1827) III. 120,
I doubt this is not the case of any other lunatic hospital.
1887 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 2 Apr. 736/1
That the registered lunatic hospitals should not be subjected to special restrictions and disabilities.
†lunatic house n. a hospital established for the reception and treatment of lunatics.
1813 R. Powell in Med. Trans. IV. xi. 139
The proportion of patients returned as having been received into lunatic houses.
lunatic soup n. Austral. and N.Z. slang alcoholic drink.
1933 Bulletin (Sydney) 6 Sept. 42/1
Lunatic soup, as the few fellows about who knew him as Darkie called the brandy he drank.
1941 S. J. Baker Pop. Dict. Austral. Slang 45
Lunatic soup, cheap red wine.
1599 Master Broughtons Lett. viii. 28
The Lunaticall conceits..are thine owne.
1600 M. Sutcliffe Briefe Replie to Libel i. ii. 43
Let this lunaticall or extaticall frier..forbeare to bragge.
lunatic
Etymology:
< lunatic adj. and n.: see -acy suffix 3.
1 a. The condition of being a lunatic; intermittent insanity such as was formerly supposed to be brought about by the changes of the moon; now applied gen. to any form of insanity (idiocy usually excepted). In legal use, such mental unsoundness as interferes with civil rights or transactions.
†Also, a fit or attack of such insanity. commission of lunacy, a commission, issuing from a court, authorizing an inquiry as to the soundness of a person's mind. commissioner in lunacy,
(a) the title given by the statute of 1842 to two officers then first appointed; in 1845 changed to master in lunacy;
(b) in subsequent use, a member of a board appointed by the Lord Chancellor to inspect asylums and grant licences to private persons who undertake the charge of lunatics. master in lunacy, a legal officer whose duty it is to investigate the mental condition of persons alleged to be insane and to make orders dealing with the persons and estates of lunatics.
1541 Act 33 Hen. VIII c. 20 §1
Suche persons..were..than not mad nor lunatike, but sithen that time fallen to madnes or lunacy.
1603 Shakespeare Hamlet iii. i. 4
Lordes, can you by no meanes finde the cause of our sonne Hamlets lunacie?
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues
Lunatique, Lunaticke, in a Lunacie.
a1616 Shakespeare Hamlet (1623) iii. iii. 7
The termes of our estate, may not endure Hazard so dangerous as doth hourely grow Out of his Lunacies.
1635 J. Swan Speculum Mundi vii. §3. 341
This disease of lunacie, is a disease whose distemper followeth the course of the moon.
1764 R. Burn Hist. Poor Laws 55
Persons, who by lunacy or otherwise are furiously mad.
b. transf. and fig. Mad folly. Often in much weakened sense.
a1592 R. Greene Alcida (1617) sig. E,
One while accusing loue as a lunacie, and then againe [etc.].
c1616 R. C. Times' Whistle (1871) iv. 1549
The hellish & mad lunacy Of them that doe commit apostacie For gold.
1733 G. Cheyne Eng. Malady Pref. p. iii,
To put a Stop to so universal a Lunacy and Madness.
c. attrib.
1881 Encycl. Brit. XIII. 112/1
The commencement of legislation such as that known in England as the Lunacy Acts.
1887 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 12 Feb. 338/2
Under the present lunacy law.
1897 Daily News 17 Feb. 5/1
Finding that he could not fill up the necessary lunacy forms.
†2. = Moon-blindness. (Cf. lunatic adj. 2b.)
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique i. xxx. 200
The horse-mules are more tractable and more easie to guide and learne, then the mare-mules be. Both of them are subiect to lunacie.
< lunatic adj. and n.: see -acy suffix 3.
1 a. The condition of being a lunatic; intermittent insanity such as was formerly supposed to be brought about by the changes of the moon; now applied gen. to any form of insanity (idiocy usually excepted). In legal use, such mental unsoundness as interferes with civil rights or transactions.
†Also, a fit or attack of such insanity. commission of lunacy, a commission, issuing from a court, authorizing an inquiry as to the soundness of a person's mind. commissioner in lunacy,
(a) the title given by the statute of 1842 to two officers then first appointed; in 1845 changed to master in lunacy;
(b) in subsequent use, a member of a board appointed by the Lord Chancellor to inspect asylums and grant licences to private persons who undertake the charge of lunatics. master in lunacy, a legal officer whose duty it is to investigate the mental condition of persons alleged to be insane and to make orders dealing with the persons and estates of lunatics.
1541 Act 33 Hen. VIII c. 20 §1
Suche persons..were..than not mad nor lunatike, but sithen that time fallen to madnes or lunacy.
1603 Shakespeare Hamlet iii. i. 4
Lordes, can you by no meanes finde the cause of our sonne Hamlets lunacie?
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues
Lunatique, Lunaticke, in a Lunacie.
a1616 Shakespeare Hamlet (1623) iii. iii. 7
The termes of our estate, may not endure Hazard so dangerous as doth hourely grow Out of his Lunacies.
1635 J. Swan Speculum Mundi vii. §3. 341
This disease of lunacie, is a disease whose distemper followeth the course of the moon.
1764 R. Burn Hist. Poor Laws 55
Persons, who by lunacy or otherwise are furiously mad.
b. transf. and fig. Mad folly. Often in much weakened sense.
a1592 R. Greene Alcida (1617) sig. E,
One while accusing loue as a lunacie, and then againe [etc.].
c1616 R. C. Times' Whistle (1871) iv. 1549
The hellish & mad lunacy Of them that doe commit apostacie For gold.
1733 G. Cheyne Eng. Malady Pref. p. iii,
To put a Stop to so universal a Lunacy and Madness.
c. attrib.
1881 Encycl. Brit. XIII. 112/1
The commencement of legislation such as that known in England as the Lunacy Acts.
1887 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 12 Feb. 338/2
Under the present lunacy law.
1897 Daily News 17 Feb. 5/1
Finding that he could not fill up the necessary lunacy forms.
†2. = Moon-blindness. (Cf. lunatic adj. 2b.)
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique i. xxx. 200
The horse-mules are more tractable and more easie to guide and learne, then the mare-mules be. Both of them are subiect to lunacie.
citations in chronological order
1290c He hadde ane douȝter þat was lunatyke.
1377 Thanne loked vp a lunatik, a lene thing with-alle.
1380c Lunatikes ... þer siikenesse bi movyng of þe moone.
1393 Þe whiche aren lunatik lollers and leperes a-boute...
1398 (1495) .... the passyon Lunatyk.
1430–40 (1554), He was..euery moneth once Lunaticke.
1430c ..Ther sect ys no thing lunatyke.
1541 Suche persons..were..than not mad nor lunatike, but ... or lunacy.
1564 ... you were lunatike and not your owne man.
1566 in Fower Offices Horsemanshippe Of Lunatike eyes.
1571 If lunatik rashnesse have caryed ...
1577 The broken wineded, the lunaticke,...
1592 She runnes lunatick.
1592a (1617) , One while accusing loue as a lunacie, and then againe [etc.].
1592a (1593), ...they be lunatikes, ... vnder the influence of Luna,...
1593 ... wont to be most lunaticke) walke on the crests of the surges...
1593a (1594) Greefe makes me lunatick.
1599 The Lunaticall conceits..are thine owne.
1600 Let this lunaticall or extaticall frier..forbeare to bragge.
1600 Both of them are subiect to lunacie.
1600 The lunatick, the louer, and the Poet...
1600 If the moone be euill placed..., lunatick, or subiect ...
1602 She may be thy Luna, and thou her Lunaticke.
1603 ...the cause of our sonne Hamlets lunacie?
1604 , ... from his Lunatique brayne.
1604 I am sicke Of that disease, all loue is lunaticke.
1607 Lunatike eyes or moone eies.
1608 Bedlam beggers, who with roring voyces..Sometime with lunaticke ...
1611 Lunatique, Lunaticke, in a Lunacie.
1612 A, Nothing [is] esteem'd in this lunatique Age,...
1616a (1623) ... so dangerous as doth hourely grow Out of his Lunacies.
1616c (1871 The hellish & mad lunacy Of them that doe commit ...
1628, A Lunatique that hath sometime his vnderstanding ...
1631 ... lunatique conscience, and splene.
1631a (1650) Vaine lunatique, against these scapes I could Dispute...
1635 This disease of lunacie, is a disease whose ...
1640 This Alice fell lunaticke, and was divorced from the said Gilbert.
1733 To put a Stop to so universal a Lunacy and Madness.
1735 (1768) An Hospital for Lunaticks and Idiots.
1737 In Lunatick or Moon-blind Horses.
1742 Whereas Persons who have the Misfortune to become Lunaticks, may...
1757 An English lunatic at full moon, is a very sober animal when ...
1759 (1813) The presumptive heir to the throne was lunatic.
1762 (1827), I doubt this is not the case of any other lunatic hospital.
1764 Persons, who by lunacy or otherwise are furiously mad.
1813 The proportion of patients ... received into lunatic houses.
1828 ... of Lunatics, and Lunatic Asylums, in Great Britain and Ireland.
1828 Dumfries has a small lunatic establishment, attached to the County Infirmary.
1881 ... known in England as the Lunacy Acts.
1885 A page from the lunatic entry book had been surreptitiously removed.
1887 Under the present lunacy law.
1887 That the registered lunatic hospitals should not be...
1897 Finding that he could not fill up the necessary lunacy forms.
1377 Thanne loked vp a lunatik, a lene thing with-alle.
1380c Lunatikes ... þer siikenesse bi movyng of þe moone.
1393 Þe whiche aren lunatik lollers and leperes a-boute...
1398 (1495) .... the passyon Lunatyk.
1430–40 (1554), He was..euery moneth once Lunaticke.
1430c ..Ther sect ys no thing lunatyke.
1541 Suche persons..were..than not mad nor lunatike, but ... or lunacy.
1564 ... you were lunatike and not your owne man.
1566 in Fower Offices Horsemanshippe Of Lunatike eyes.
1571 If lunatik rashnesse have caryed ...
1577 The broken wineded, the lunaticke,...
1592 She runnes lunatick.
1592a (1617) , One while accusing loue as a lunacie, and then againe [etc.].
1592a (1593), ...they be lunatikes, ... vnder the influence of Luna,...
1593 ... wont to be most lunaticke) walke on the crests of the surges...
1593a (1594) Greefe makes me lunatick.
1599 The Lunaticall conceits..are thine owne.
1600 Let this lunaticall or extaticall frier..forbeare to bragge.
1600 Both of them are subiect to lunacie.
1600 The lunatick, the louer, and the Poet...
1600 If the moone be euill placed..., lunatick, or subiect ...
1602 She may be thy Luna, and thou her Lunaticke.
1603 ...the cause of our sonne Hamlets lunacie?
1604 , ... from his Lunatique brayne.
1604 I am sicke Of that disease, all loue is lunaticke.
1607 Lunatike eyes or moone eies.
1608 Bedlam beggers, who with roring voyces..Sometime with lunaticke ...
1611 Lunatique, Lunaticke, in a Lunacie.
1612 A, Nothing [is] esteem'd in this lunatique Age,...
1616a (1623) ... so dangerous as doth hourely grow Out of his Lunacies.
1616c (1871 The hellish & mad lunacy Of them that doe commit ...
1628, A Lunatique that hath sometime his vnderstanding ...
1631 ... lunatique conscience, and splene.
1631a (1650) Vaine lunatique, against these scapes I could Dispute...
1635 This disease of lunacie, is a disease whose ...
1640 This Alice fell lunaticke, and was divorced from the said Gilbert.
1733 To put a Stop to so universal a Lunacy and Madness.
1735 (1768) An Hospital for Lunaticks and Idiots.
1737 In Lunatick or Moon-blind Horses.
1742 Whereas Persons who have the Misfortune to become Lunaticks, may...
1757 An English lunatic at full moon, is a very sober animal when ...
1759 (1813) The presumptive heir to the throne was lunatic.
1762 (1827), I doubt this is not the case of any other lunatic hospital.
1764 Persons, who by lunacy or otherwise are furiously mad.
1813 The proportion of patients ... received into lunatic houses.
1828 ... of Lunatics, and Lunatic Asylums, in Great Britain and Ireland.
1828 Dumfries has a small lunatic establishment, attached to the County Infirmary.
1881 ... known in England as the Lunacy Acts.
1885 A page from the lunatic entry book had been surreptitiously removed.
1887 Under the present lunacy law.
1887 That the registered lunatic hospitals should not be...
1897 Finding that he could not fill up the necessary lunacy forms.
conclusion
Although lunacy was described in the 15th century, hospitals are first recorded only in the 18th century and Lunacy Acts were not created until the 19th century.