wisdom

See also:Wisdom

English

Alternative forms

• wisedome(obsolete)
• wisdome(obsolete)

Etymology

FromMiddle Englishwisdom,fromOld Englishwīsdōm(“wisdom”),fromProto-Germanic*wīsadōmaz(“wisdom”),corresponding towise+‎-domorwise+‎doom(“judgement”).Cognate withScotswisdom,wysdom(“wisdom”),West Frisianwiisdom(“wisdom”),Dutchwijsdom(“wisdom”),GermanWeistum(“legal sentence”),Danish/Norwegian/Swedishvisdom(“wisdom”),Icelandicvísdómur(“wisdom”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation,General American)enPR:wĭzʹdəm,IPA^(key):/ˈwɪzdəm/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-ɪzdəm
• Hyphenation:wis‧dom

Noun

wisdom(countableanduncountable,pluralwisdoms)

1. (uncountable)Anelementof personalcharacterthat enables one todistinguishthewisefrom theunwise.
2. (countable)A piece of wiseadvice.
3. The discretionary use ofknowledgefor the greatest good.
4. Theabilitytoapplyrelevantknowledge in an insightful way, especially to different situations from that in which the knowledge was gained.
5. The ability to make a decision based on the combination of knowledge, experience, and intuitive understanding.
6. (theology)The ability to know and applyspiritualtruths.
   • 1652,Eugenius Philalethes,The Fame and Confeſſion of the Fraternity of…the Roſie Croſs,pages 1-2 of the preface:

     Wiſdom…is to a man an infinite Treaſure, for ſhe is the Breath of the Power of God, and a pure Influence that floweth from the Glory of the Almighty; ſhe is the Brightneſs of Eternal Light, and an undefiled Mirror of the Majeſty of God, and an Image of his Goodneſs; ſhe teacheth us Soberneſs and Prudence, Righteouſneſs and Strength; ſhe underſtands the Subtilty of words, and Solution of dark ſentences; ſhe foreknoweth Signs and Wonders, and what ſhall happen in time to come.

7. (rare)A group ofwombats.
   • 2007April 16, Tony Cooper, “Ebay is Unfair!”, inrec.collecting.coins‎^[1](Usenet), retrieved2022-09-05:

     It would also be difficult to get to the bottom line accurately if awisdomof wombats ate your working papers. Both scenarios are equal in probability.

   • 2017,Peggy A. Wheeler,The Splendid and Extraordinary Life of Beautimus Potamus‎^[2]:

     Beautimus strolled to the river for her morning bath. She looked one direction, then the other to search the landscape for anything or anybody who might offer a clue as to what could be coming her way. She passed a pond where a congregation of alligators and awisdomof wombats engaged in a heated argument over economics. Nothing unusual in that.

   • 2020,Graham Jackson,The7th Victim‎^[3],page160:

     Banyulemeanshill,another voice whispers from the swamp, and as I turn to ask a question I see kangaroos lying in the shade of a low tree by the shining water. Yes, the water has returned, along with giant earth-eating creatures boring holes far below, linkingwisdomsof wombats with wastelands of Winthers.

8. (rare)A group ofowls.

   Synonym:parliament

   • 1974,Margery Weiner,Answering Any Questions: How to Set Up an Information Office,Newton Abbot: David and Charles[for]the "Daily Telegraph":

     What he expected to find I cannot imagine, unless it was awisdomof owls. What he did see and hear were telephones ringing, assistants answering them, getting up from their seats to take a book or a card from a file, returning[…]

   • 2016,Gary Barwin,Yiddish for Pirates: A Novel,→ISBN,page91:

     All of us, whether we gather into a wisp of snipes, awisdomof owls, a wing of plovers, or remain like a single regretful priest on his knees before his God, we are one and it is not for us to decide another's fate.

Synonyms

• (ability to make a decision):SeeThesaurus:wisdom

Antonyms

• foolishness
• folly

Derived terms

• conventional wisdom
• font of all wisdom
• fount of all wisdom
• in one's infinite wisdom
• lip wisdom
• pearl of wisdom
• penny wisdom
• received wisdom
• street wisdom
• wisdomless
• wisdom of Silenus
• wisdom of the crow
• wisdom tooth

Related terms

• wise
• wisehead
• wiseness

Translations

element of personal character

• Afrikaans:wysheid
• Albanian:urtësinëf
• Arabic:حِكْمَةf(ḥikma)

  Egyptian Arabic:حكمةf(ḥikma)

• Armenian:իմաստություն(hy)(imastutʻyun)
• Aromanian:mintiminiljif
• Asturian:sabenciaf,sabiduríaf
• Atayal:kinbaqan
• Azerbaijani:hikmət
• Belarusian:му́драсцьf(múdrascʹ)
• Bulgarian:мъ́дрост(bg)f(mǎ́drost)
• Burmese:ဉာဏ်(my)(nyan),ဉာဏ(my)(nyana.),ဝိဇ္ဇာ(my)(wijja)
• Catalan:saviesa(ca)f
• Chechen:хьекъалалла(ḥʳeqʼalalla)
• Cherokee:ᎠᎦᏙᎲᏍᏗ(agadohvsdi)
• Chichewa:nzeru
• Chinese:

  Cantonese:Trí tuệ(zi³wai⁶)

  Hokkien:Trí tuệ(zh-min-nan)(tì-huī)

  Mandarin:Trí tuệ(zh)(zhìhuì)

• Czech:moudrost(cs)f
• Danish:visdomc
• Dutch:wijsheid(nl)f
• Esperanto:saĝeco
• Estonian:tarkus
• Faroese:vísdómurm
• Finnish:viisaus(fi)
• French:sagesse(fr)f
• Galician:sabedoríaf,sabenzaf
• Georgian:სიბრძნე(sibrʒne)
• German:Weisheit(de)f
• Gothic:𐌷𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌿𐌲𐌴𐌹f(handugei),𐍆𐍂𐍉𐌳𐌴𐌹f(frōdei)
• Greek:σοφία(el)f(sofía)

  Ancient:σοφίαf(sophía)

• Hebrew:חוכמה \ חָכְמָהf(khokhmá)
• Hindi:बुद्धिमत्ता(hi)(buddhimattā),पांडित्य(hi)(pāṇḍitya),प्रज्ञता(hi)(prajñatā)
• Hungarian:bölcsesség(hu)
• Icelandic:viskaf,vísdómur(is)m
• Ido:sajeso(io)
• Indonesian:kebijaksanaan(id)
• Irish:eagnaf,críonnachtf
• Italian:saggezza(it),senno(it)m,discernimento(it)m,criterio(it)m,avvedutezza(it)f
• Japanese:Tri huệ(ja)(ちえ, chie)
• Kashmiri:گاٹہٕ جار(gāṭhụ jār),بۄد(bọd)
• Khmer:គតិបណ្ឌិត(km)(kĕəʼteʼ bɑndɨt)
• Korean:지혜( trí tuệ )(ko)(jihye),지혜( tri tuệ )(ko)(jihye),슬기(ko)(seulgi)
• Latin:sagacitasf,sapientiaf
• Latvian:gudrībaf
• Lingala:bwányáclass14
• Lithuanian:išmintisf
• Macedonian:мудростf(mudrost)
• Malagasy:fahendrena(mg)
• Malay:kebijaksanaan
• Middle English:wisdom,sapience
• Navajo:ił ééhózin
• Norwegian:visdom(no)m
• Occitan:saviesa(oc)f
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic:мѫдростьf(mǫdrostĭ)

• Old Occitan:sapiencia,razon
• Ottoman Turkish:عقل(ʼakl, ʼakıl)
• Persian:خردمندی(xeradmandi),خرد(fa)(xerad)
• Polish:mądrość(pl)f
• Portuguese:sabedoria(pt),sagacidade(pt),sapiência(pt)
• Romanian:înțelepciune(ro)f,judecată(ro)f
• Russian:му́дрость(ru)f(múdrostʹ)
• Sanskrit:प्रज्ञा(sa)f(prajñā)
• Scottish Gaelic:gliocasm
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic:múdrōst(sh)f

  Roman:му́дро̄стf

• Slovak:múdrosťf
• Slovene:modróst(sl)f
• Spanish:sabiduría(es)f
• Swahili:mwanafalsafa
• Swedish:visdom(sv)c
• Tagalog:karunungan
• Thai:ภูมิปัญญา(th)(puum-bpan-yaa)
• Turkish:bilgelik(tr),hikmet(tr)
• Ugaritic:𐎈𐎋𐎎𐎚(ḥkmt)
• Ukrainian:му́дрість(uk)f(múdristʹ)
• Urdu:عقل(ur)f
• Vietnamese:khôn ngoan(vi),trí tuệ(vi)
• Welsh:doethineb
• Yiddish:חכמהf(khokhme)

piece of wise advice

• Arabic:حِكْمَةf(ḥikma)
• Armenian:իմաստություն(hy)(imastutʻyun)
• Bulgarian:мъдър съветm(mǎdǎr sǎvet)
• Cherokee:ᎠᎦᏙᎲᏍᏗ(agadohvsdi)
• Chichewa:nzeru
• Czech:moudrá rada
• Danish:visdomc
• Dutch:wijsheid(nl)f
• Estonian:tarkus
• Finnish:viisaus(fi)
• French:sagesse(fr)f
• Galician:consellom
• Georgian:სიბრძნე(sibrʒne)
• German:Weisheit(de)f
• Hausa:hikima
• Hungarian:bölcsesség(hu)
• Ido:sajeso(io)
• Italian:saggezza(it)f
• Japanese:Tri huệ(ja)(ちえ, chie)
• Latin:scientia(la)f,sapientiaf
• Latvian:gudrībaf
• Maori:whakaaronui
• Norwegian:visdom(no)m
• Portuguese:orientação(pt)f
• Russian:му́дрость(ru)f(múdrostʹ)
• Turkish:hikmet(tr)

discretionary use of knowledge for the greatest good

• Armenian:խոհեմություն(hy)(xohemutʻyun)
• Bulgarian:мъдрост(bg)(mǎdrost)
• Danish:visdomc
• Dutch:wijsheid(nl)f
• Finnish:viisaus(fi)
• French:sagesse(fr)f
• Galician:sabenzaf,sabedoríaf
• Georgian:სიბრძნე(sibrʒne)
• German:Weisheit(de)f
• Hebrew:חוכמה \ חָכְמָהf(khokhmá)
• Hungarian:bölcsesség(hu)
• Ido:sajeso(io)
• Italian:(buon)senso(it),senno(it)m,discrezionalità(it)f,buon sensom
• Japanese:Tri huệ(ja)(ちえ, chie)
• Latvian:gudrībaf
• Norwegian:visdom(no)m
• Ottoman Turkish:عقل(ʼakl, ʼakıl)
• Persian:حکمت(fa)(hekmat)
• Portuguese:bom senso(pt)m
• Romanian:înțelepciune(ro)f,sapiență(ro)f
• Russian:му́дрость(ru)f(múdrostʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic:gliocasm
• Swahili:hekima(sw)
• Turkish:hikmet(tr)
• Yiddish:חכמהf(khokhme)

ability to apply relevant knowledge in an insightful way

• Cherokee:ᎠᎦᏙᎲᏍᏗ(agadohvsdi)
• Danish:visdomc
• Dutch:wijsheid(nl)f
• Estonian:tarkus
• Finnish:viisaus(fi)
• French:sagesse(fr)f
• Galician:sabedoríaf
• Georgian:სიბრძნე(sibrʒne)
• German:Weisheit(de)f
• Greek:σοφία(el)f(sofía)
• Hebrew:חוכמה \ חָכְמָהf(khokhmá)
• Hungarian:bölcsesség(hu)
• Ido:sajeso(io)
• Italian:saggezza(it)f
• Japanese:Anh tri(ja)(えいち, eichi),Tri thức(ja)(ちしき, chishiki)
• Latin:sapientiaf,scientia(la)f
• Latvian:gudrībaf
• Maori:whakaaronui
• Norwegian:visdom(no)m
• Ottoman Turkish:عقل(ʼakl, ʼakıl)
• Portuguese:sabedoria(pt)f
• Russian:му́дрость(ru)f(múdrostʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic:gliocasm
• Swahili:hekima(sw)class9
• Turkish:hikmet(tr)
• Yiddish:חכמהf(khokhme)

ability to make a decision based on the combination of knowledge, experience, and intuitive understanding

• Bulgarian:знания(bg)npl(znanija)
• Catalan:saviesa(ca)
• Danish:visdomc
• Dutch:wijsheid(nl)f
• Estonian:tarkus
• Finnish:viisaus(fi)
• French:sagesse(fr)f
• Galician:sabedoríaf
• Georgian:სიბრძნე(sibrʒne)
• German:Weisheit(de)f
• Greek:σοφία(el)f(sofía)
• Hausa:hikima
• Hebrew:חוכמה \ חָכְמָהf(khokhmá)
• Hungarian:bölcsesség(hu)
• Ido:sajeso(io)
• Italian:discernimento(it)m
• Japanese:Tri thức(ja)(ちしき, chishiki)
• Latvian:gudrībaf
• Middle English:sleighte
• Norwegian:visdom(no)m
• Occitan:saviesa(oc)
• Ottoman Turkish:عقل(ʼakl, ʼakıl)
• Portuguese:sabedoria(pt)f
• Romanian:înțelepciune(ro)f
• Russian:му́дрость(ru)f(múdrostʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic:gliocasm
• Spanish:sabiduría(es)
• Swahili:hekima(sw)
• Turkish:akıl(tr)
• Uyghur:ئەقىل(ug)(eqil)
• Yiddish:חכמהf(khokhme)

ability to know and apply spiritual truths

• Armenian:իմաստություն(hy)(imastutʻyun)
• Cherokee:ᎠᎦᏙᎲᏍᏗ(agadohvsdi)
• Danish:visdomc
• Dutch:wijsheid(nl)f
• Estonian:tarkus
• Finnish:viisaus(fi)
• French:sagesse(fr)f
• Georgian:სიბრძნე(sibrʒne)
• German:Weisheit(de)f
• Hebrew:חוכמה \ חָכְמָהf(khokhmá)
• Hungarian:bölcsesség(hu)
• Ido:sajeso(io)
• Italian:saggezza(it)f
• Japanese:Anh tri(ja)(えいち, eichi),Tri thức(ja)(ちしき, chishiki)
• Latvian:gudrībaf
• Norwegian:visdom(no)m
• Portuguese:sabedoria(pt)f
• Russian:му́дрость(ru)f(múdrostʹ)
• Spanish:sabiduría(es)
• Swahili:hekima(sw)
• Turkish:hikmet(tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Albanian:^{(pleaseverify)}mençuri(sq)
• Azerbaijani:^{(pleaseverify)}fәrasәt
• Cherokee:^{(pleaseverify)}ᎠᎦᏙᎲᏍᏗ(agadohvsdi)
• Dutch:^{(pleaseverify)}wijsheid(nl)
• Esperanto:^{(pleaseverify)}saĝeco
• Fula:^{(pleaseverify)}ndimaagu
• Georgian:^{(pleaseverify)}ცოდნა(codna)
• Indonesian:^{(pleaseverify)}kebijaksanaan(id)
• Irish:^{(pleaseverify)}eagnaíochtf
• Italian:^{(pleaseverify)}saggezza(it)f
• Latin:^{(pleaseverify)}sapientiaf
• Malayalam:^{(pleaseverify)}ജ്ഞാനം(ml)(jñānaṁ),^{(pleaseverify)}അറിവ്(ml)(aṟivŭ)
• Mandarin:^{(pleaseverify)}Trí tuệ(zh)(zhìhuì),^{(pleaseverify)}Tài trí(zh)(zhìhuì)
• Middle Low German:^{(pleaseverify)}wysheit(^{(pleaseverify)}Wysheit)
• Persian:^{(pleaseverify)}عقل(fa)('aqal)
• Romanian:^{(pleaseverify)}sfătoșenie(ro)
• Slovak:^{(pleaseverify)}rozum
• Slovene:^{(pleaseverify)}modrost(sl)f
• Spanish:^{(pleaseverify)}sabiduría(es)f
• Swedish:^{(pleaseverify)}visdom(sv)c
• Turkish:^{(pleaseverify)}âkil
• Uyghur:ئەقىل(ug)(eqil)
• Welsh:^{(pleaseverify)}callineb

References

• (group of wombats):Woop Studios, Jay Sacher. A Compendium of Collective Nouns: From an Armory of Aardvarks to a Zeal of Zebras. Chronicle Books, 2013.p. 213

See also

• morality

Middle English

Etymology

FromOld Englishwīsdom.Equivalent towys+‎-dom.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/ˈwizdoːm/

Noun

wisdom(pluralwisdomes)

1. wisdom
   • c.1395,John Wycliffe,John Purvey[et al.], transl.,Bible(Wycliffite Bible (later version),MS Lich 10.)‎^[4],publishedc.1410,Apocalips17:9,page123r,column 2; republished asWycliffe's translation of the New Testament,Lichfield:Bill Endres,2010:

     ⁊ þis is þe wit who þat haþwiſdom/ þe ſeuene heedis ben ſeuene hillis.· on which þe womman ſittiþ

     And the mind that haswisdomthinks: "The seven heads are the seven hills that the woman sits on[…]

Related terms

• unwisdom

Descendants

• English:wisdom
• Scots:wisdom,wysdom

Old English

Etymology

FromProto-Germanic*wīsadōmaz.Cognate withOld Frisianwīsdom,Old Saxonwīsdom,Old High Germanwīstuom,Old Norsevísdómr.Equivalent towīs+‎dōm.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/ˈwiːsˌdoːm/,[ˈwiːzˌdoːm]

Noun

wīsdōmm

1. wisdom
   • late 9th century,King Alfred'stranslationofSaint Augustine'sSoliloquies

     Ġyf þē þurhwȳsdōmfindon þā ðe þē findon, forġyf mē þonnewȳsdōm...

     If bywisdomthey find Thee who find Thee, then give mewisdom.

Declension

Declension ofwīsdōm(strong a-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	wīsdōm	wīsdōmas
accusative	wīsdōm	wīsdōmas
genitive	wīsdōmes	wīsdōma
dative	wīsdōme	wīsdōmum

Synonyms

• gleawscipe

Descendants

• Middle English:wisdom
  • English:wisdom