Mad | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Mād, a.

adjective

a. [compar. MADDER; superl. MADDEST.] [A-S. gemæd, gemæd, mad, Goth. gamaids, weak, broken, O. H. Ger. gameit, blunt, dull, M. H. Ger. gemeit, merry, Icel. meida, to hurt; not allied to It. matto, mad.]

Sense 1. Disordered in intellect; distracted; crazy; insane.

I have heard my grandsire say, full oft, Extremity of griefs would make men mad. Shak.

Sense 2. Thrown off one's balance; infatuated, or made beside one's self, by a violent mental excitement, as fear, pain, appetite, rage, or the like; inflamed to excess with passion, especially, (a.) Excited with violent or unreasonable desire or appetite.

The world is running mad after farce, the extremity of bad poetry. Dryden.

(b.) Excited with wrath; enraged; furious with anger; angry.

And being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities. Acts xxvi. 11.

Sense 3. Proceeding from, or indicating, madness; expressing distraction; prompted by infatuation or fury.

Mad wars destroy in one year the works of many years of peace. Franklin.

Mād, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. MADDED; p. pr. & vb. n. MADDING.] To make mad, furious, or angry. Had I but seen thy picture in this plight, It would have maddened me. Shak.

Mād, v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. To be mad, furious, or wild. “Far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife.” Gray. “Madding wheels of artillery.” Everett.

Mād, n.

noun

n. [A-S. madha, madhu, O. Sax. matho, Goth. matha, O. H. Ger. made, M. & N. H. Ger. made; not allied to moth.] An earth-worm. [Written also made.]