A serious question: I don't think there is a "classical" (i.e., Greek- or Latin-based) synonym for for the English word "crackpot", a person with crazy ideas. But if there were, would it be "schizoceramic" or "schistoceramic" or something else?
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3'Crackpot' is a slang word (probably from 'pot' as an old slang word for 'head'), so you can't assume it can be literally translated 'back' into Latin or Greek.– Kate BuntingMay 19, 2018 at 7:23
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goodreads.com/quotes/…– BreadMay 19, 2018 at 11:24
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Looking at things like "schizoceramic" seems to me like a way too literal approach to finding a word like this. Have you looked in an English/Greek or English/Latin dictionary, or a Latin or Greek thesaurus? "Ass" is technically from Latin (asinus), although it's an old borrowing, and I think it could be used with a similar meaning to "crackpot" in some contexts.– herissonMay 19, 2018 at 16:10
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A daft idea is often described as 'it won't hold water' meaning it cannot contain the problems or variables under consideration. Presumably that is the sense of a 'cracked pot' or 'crackpot' idea. And hence the outlook of a 'crackpot' person.– Nigel JMay 19, 2018 at 19:11
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2 Answers
Lunatic fits the bill, as it's from a Latin word originally:
An extremely foolish or eccentric person.
Middle English: from Old French lunatique, from late Latin lunaticus, from Latin luna ‘moon’ (from the belief that changes of the moon caused intermittent insanity).
Oxford Dictionaries
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1Lunatic is a rather general term, whereas a crackpot can be completely sane in all respects other than their specific beliefs such as the world is flat or Shakespeare didn't write his plays.– user184130May 19, 2018 at 10:23
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There is the humorous coinage 'psychoceramicist': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josiah_S._Carberry