Brewer's: Delirium

From the Latin lira (the ridge left by the plough), hence the verb de-lirare, to make an irregular ridge or balk in ploughing. Delirus is one whose mind is not properly tilled or cultivated, a person of irregular intellect; and delirium is the state of a person whose mental faculties are like a field full of balks or irregularities. (See Prevarication.)

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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