wisdom

• wisedome (obsolete)
• wisdome (obsolete)

From Middle English wisdom, from Old English wīsdōm (“wisdom”), from Proto-Germanic *wīsadōmaz (“wisdom”), corresponding to wise +‎ -dom or wise +‎ doom (“judgement”). Cognate with Scots wisdom, wysdom (“wisdom”), West Frisian wiisdom (“wisdom”), Dutch wijsdom (“wisdom”), German Weistum (“legal sentence”), Danish/Norwegian/Swedish visdom (“wisdom”), Icelandic vísdómur (“wisdom”).

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

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -ɪzdəm
• Hyphenation: wis‧dom

wisdom (countable and uncountable, plural wisdoms)

1. (uncountable) An element of personal character that enables one to distinguish the wise from the unwise.
2. (countable) A piece of wise advice.
3. The discretionary use of knowledge for the greatest good.
4. The ability to apply relevant knowledge 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 apply spiritual truths.
   • 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 of wombats.
   • 2007 April 16, Tony Cooper, “Ebay is Unfair!”, in rec.collecting.coins‎ (Usenet), retrieved 2022-09-05:

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

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

     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 a wisdom of wombats engaged in a heated argument over economics. Nothing unusual in that.

   • 2020, Graham Jackson, The7th Victim‎, page 160:

     Banyule means hill, 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, linking wisdoms of wombats with wastelands of Winthers.

8. (rare) A group of owls.

   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 a wisdom of 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, page 91:

     All of us, whether we gather into a wisp of snipes, a wisdom of 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.

• (ability to make a decision): See Thesaurus:wisdom

• foolishness
• folly

• wise
• wisehead
• wiseness

• (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

• morality

From Old English wīsdom. Equivalent to wys +‎ -dom.

• IPA^(key): /ˈwizdoːm/

wisdom (plural wisdomes)

1. wisdom
   • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎, published c. 1410, Apocalips 17:9, page 123r, column 2; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:

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

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

• unwisdom

• English: wisdom
• Scots: wisdom, wysdom

From Proto-Germanic *wīsadōmaz. Cognate with Old Frisian wīsdom, Old Saxon wīsdom, Old High German wīstuom, Old Norse vísdómr. Equivalent to wīs +‎ dōm.

• IPA^(key): /ˈwiːsˌdoːm/, [ˈwiːzˌdoːm]

wīsdōm m

1. wisdom
   • late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Saint Augustine's Soliloquies

     Ġyf þē þurh wȳsdōm findon þā ðe þē findon, forġyf mē þonne wȳsdōm...

     If by wisdom they find Thee who find Thee, then give me wisdom.

• Middle English: wisdom
  • English: wisdom