wisdom

See also Wisdom

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

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”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈwɪzdəm/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

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.

Synonyms

• sagacity
• sapience

Antonyms

• foolishness
• folly

Derived terms

• conventional wisdom
• pearl of wisdom
• wisdom tooth

Related terms

• wise
• wisehead
• wiseness
• Wissen (German)

Translations

element of personal character

• Armenian: իմաստություն (hy) (imastut’yun)
• Burmese: ဉာဏ် (my) (nyàn), ဉာဏ (my) (nyà-na.), ဝိဇ္ဇာ (my) (wei'-zà)
• Cherokee: ᎠᎦᏙᎲᏍᏗ (chr) (agatohvsdi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 智慧 (cmn) (zhìhuì)

  Min Nan: 智慧 (nan) (tì-huī)

• Czech: moudrost (cs) f
• Danish: visdom (da) c
• Dutch: wijsheid (nl) c
• Esperanto: saĝeco (eo)
• Estonian: tarkus (et)
• Faroese: vísdómur (fo) m
• Finnish: viisaus (fi)
• French: sagesse (fr) f
• German: Weisheit (de) f
• Greek: σοφία (el) (sofía) f
• Hebrew: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: bölcsesség (hu)

• Icelandic: vísdómur (is) m
• Ido: sajeso (io)
• Italian: saggezza (it)
• Japanese: 知恵 (ja) (ちえ, chie)
• Khmer: គតិបណ្ឌិត (km) (kea’te’ bɑndɨt)
• Latin: sagacitas (la) f, sapientia (la) f
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian: visdom (no) m
• Old Provençal: sapiencia, razon
• Persian: خردمندی (fa) (xeradmandi), خرد (fa) (xerad)
• Polish: mądrość (pl) f
• Portuguese: sagacidade (pt), sapiência (pt), sabedoria (pt)
• Romanian: înțelepciune (ro), judecată (ro)
• Russian: мудрость (ru) (múdrost’) f
• Scottish Gaelic: gliocas (gd) m
• Serbo-Croatian: mudrost (sh) (мудрост) f
• Slovak: múdrosť (sk) f
• Swahili: mwanafalsafa (sw)

piece of wise advice

• Arabic: حكمة (ar) (hikma) f
• Armenian: իմաստություն (hy) (imastut’yun)
• Cherokee: ᎠᎦᏙᎲᏍᏗ (chr) (agatohvsdi)
• Danish: visdom (da) c
• Dutch: wijsheid (nl) c
• Estonian: tarkus (et)
• Finnish: viisaus (fi)
• French: sagesse (fr) f
• German: Weisheit (de) f

• Hungarian: bölcsesség (hu)
• Ido: sajeso (io)
• Italian: saggezza (it) f
• Japanese: 知恵 (ja) (ちえ, chie)
• Latin: scientia (la) f, sapientia (la) f, sapientia (la) f
• Norwegian: visdom (no) m
• Russian: мудрость (ru) (múdrost’) f
• Swahili: falsafa (sw)

discretionary use of knowledge for the greatest good

• Armenian: խոհեմություն (hy) (xohemut’yun)
• Danish: visdom (da) c
• Dutch: wijsheid (nl) c
• Finnish: viisaus (fi)
• French: sagesse (fr) f
• German: Weisheit (de) f
• Hungarian: bölcsesség (hu)
• Ido: sajeso (io)

• Italian: (buon) senso (it)
• Japanese: 知恵 (ja) (ちえ, chie)
• Norwegian: visdom (no) m
• Persian: حکمت (fa) (hekmat)
• Romanian: înțelepciune (ro), sapiență (ro)
• Russian: мудрость (ru) (múdrost’) f
• Scottish Gaelic: gliocas (gd) m
• Swahili: falsafa (sw)

ability to apply relevant knowledge in an insightful way

• Cherokee: ᎠᎦᏙᎲᏍᏗ (chr) (agatohvsdi)
• Danish: visdom (da) c
• Dutch: wijsheid (nl) c
• Estonian: tarkus (et)
• Finnish: viisaus (fi)
• French: sagesse (fr) f
• German: Weisheit (de) f
• Greek: σοφία (el) (sofía) f (sofía)

• Hungarian: bölcsesség (hu)
• Ido: sajeso (io)
• Italian: saggezza (it) f
• Japanese: 英知 (ja) (えいち, eichi), 知識 (ja) (ちしき, chishiki)
• Latin: sapientia (la) f, scientia (la) f
• Norwegian: visdom (no) m
• Russian: мудрость (ru) (múdrost’) f
• Scottish Gaelic: gliocas (gd) m

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

• Catalan: saviesa (ca)
• Danish: visdom (da) c
• Dutch: wijsheid (nl) c
• Estonian: tarkus (et)
• Finnish: viisaus (fi)
• French: sagesse (fr) f
• German: Weisheit (de) f
• Greek: σοφία (el) (sofía) f (sofía)
• Hungarian: bölcsesség (hu)

• Ido: sajeso (io)
• Italian: discernimento (it) m
• Japanese: 知識 (ja) (ちしき, chishiki)
• Norwegian: visdom (no) m
• Romanian: înțelepciune (ro)
• Russian: мудрость (ru) (múdrost’) f
• Scottish Gaelic: gliocas (gd) m
• Spanish: sabiduría (es)
• Swahili: falsafa (sw)

ability to know and apply spiritual truths

• Armenian: իմաստություն (hy) (imastut’yun)
• Cherokee: ᎠᎦᏙᎲᏍᏗ (chr) (agatohvsdi)
• Danish: visdom (da) c
• Dutch: wijsheid (nl) c
• Estonian: tarkus (et)
• Finnish: viisaus (fi)
• French: sagesse (fr) f
• German: Weisheit (de) f

• Hungarian: bölcsesség (hu)
• Ido: sajeso (io)
• Italian: saggezza (it) f
• Japanese: 英知 (ja) (えいち, eichi), 知識 (ja) (ちしき, chishiki)
• Norwegian: visdom (no) m
• Russian: мудрость (ru) (múdrost’) f
• Swahili: falsafa (sw)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Albanian: mençuri
• Arabic: حكمة (ħíkma) f
• Azeri: fәrasәt
• Bulgarian: мъдрост (mădrost)
• Cherokee: ᎠᎦᏙᎲᏍᏗ (agatohvsdi)
• Mandarin: 智慧, 才智 (zhìhuì)
• Dutch: wijsheid
• Esperanto: saĝeco
• Georgian: ცოდნა (tsodna)
• Hebrew: חכמה (hokhma) f
• Indonesian: kebijaksanaan
• Italian: saggezza f
• Korean: 지혜 (jihye)
• Latin: sapientia f
• Latvian: gudrība f
• Malayalam: ജ്ഞാനം (jnaanam), അറിവ് (aRivu)
• Persian: عقل (aghal)
• Fula: ndimaagu
• Portuguese: sabedoria f
• Romanian: sfătoșenie
• Slovak: rozum (sk)
• Slovene: modrost (sl) f
• Spanish: sabiduría (es) f
• Swahili: busara
• Swedish: visdom (sv) c
• Turkish: akil (tr)
• Uyghur: aqiliq
• Welsh: callineb
• Yiddish: חכמה (yi) (khokhme) f

See also

• morality

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Middle English

Noun

wisdom (plural wisdoms)

1. wisdom

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Old English

Etymology

From wīs + dōm. Cognate with Old Norse vísdómr.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈwiːsdoːm/

Noun

wīsdōm m

1. wisdom

Declension

    Declension of wisdom (strong a-stem)

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