wisdom
[wiz-duhm]
- the quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment, or insight.
- scholarly knowledge or learning: the wisdom of the schools.
- wise sayings or teachings; precepts.
- a wise act or saying.
- (initial capital letter) Douay Bible. Wisdom of Solomon.
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Origin of wisdom
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
sanityknowledgeintelligenceprudencepoiseexperienceunderstandingforesightacumencautionsavvysophisticationjudgmentgumptionstabilitycomprehensionlearningeruditioninformationcircumspectionExamples from the Web for wisdom
Contemporary Examples
Common sense is not a just a normative judgment about wisdom, but a structural feature of any functioning organization.
He made an easy target, the know-it-all liberal egghead who demeaned the wisdom of the American people.
They possessed “wisdom beyond their years,” observed The Advocate.
The Rise and Fall of Chris Hughes and Sean Eldridge, America’s Worst Gay Power CoupleJames Kirchick
December 9, 2014
Miraculously, Malala survived, and her courage, wisdom, and optimism have continued to transfix and inspire the world.
Kundera sees fiction as a realm of many partial truths, its only certainty “the wisdom of uncertainty.”
Historical Examples
Is there any other wisdom, than true simplicity and innocence?
PhilotheaLydia Maria Child
"I am satisfied with the pursuit of wisdom, not with the fame of it," replied the sage.
PhilotheaLydia Maria Child
The wisdom of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment.
But let not the foundation of our hope rest upon man's wisdom.
Mr Clayton had taught me wisdom, which his own bad conduct could not sully or affect.
wisdom
- the ability or result of an ability to think and act utilizing knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense, and insight
- accumulated knowledge, erudition, or enlightenment
- archaic a wise saying or wise sayings or teachings
- obsolete soundness of mind
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Word Origin
Old English wīsdōm; see wise 1, -dom
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for wisdom
n.
Old English wisdom, from wis (see wise (adj.)) + -dom. A common Germanic compound (cf. Old Saxon, Old Frisian wisdom, Old Norse visdomr, Old High German wistuom "wisdom," German Weistum "judicial sentence serving as a precedent"). Wisdom teeth so called from 1848 (earlier teeth of wisdom, 1660s), a loan-translation of Latin dentes sapientiae, itself a loan-translation of Greek sophronisteres (used by Hippocrates, from sophron "prudent, self-controlled"), so called because they usually appear ages 17-25, when a person reaches adulthood.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper