English
Etymology
From Middle English wonder , wunder , from Old English wundor ( “ wonder, miracle, marvel ” ) , from Proto-Germanic *wundrą . Cognate with Scots wunner ( “ wonder ” ) , West Frisian wonder , wûnder ( “ wonder, miracle ” ) , Dutch wonder ( “ miracle, wonder ” ) , Low German wunner , wunder ( “ wonder ” ) , German Wunder ( “ miracle, wonder ” ) , Danish , Norwegian and Swedish under ( “ wonder, miracle ” ) , Icelandic undur ( “ wonder ” ) .
The verb is from Middle English wondren , from Old English wundrian , which is from Proto-Germanic *wundrōną . Cognate with Saterland Frisian wunnerje , West Frisian wûnderje , Dutch wonderen , German Low German wunnern , German wundern , Swedish undra , Icelandic undra .
Pronunciation
Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360 : Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E . IPA (key ) : /ˈwʌndə/
Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360 : Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GA" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E . IPA (key ) : /ˈwʌndɚ/
Rhymes: -ʌndə(ɹ)
Hyphenation: won‧der
Noun
wonder (countable and uncountable , plural wonders )
Something that causes amazement or awe ; a marvel .
Wonders of the World seem to come in sevens.
1913 , Joseph C. Lincoln , chapter 8, in Mr. Pratt's Patients :That concertina was a wonder in its way. The handles that was on it first was wore out long ago, and he'd made new ones of braided rope yarn. And the bellows was patched in more places than a cranberry picker's overalls.
Something astonishing and seemingly inexplicable .
The idea was so crazy that it is a wonder that anyone went along with it.
Someone very talented at something, a genius .
He's a wonder at cooking.
The sense or emotion which can be inspired by something curious or unknown ; surprise ; astonishment , often with awe or reverence .
1781 , Samuel Johnson , The Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets
All wonder is the effect of novelty upon ignorance.
1871 , Plato , Benjamin Jowett (translator), Theaetetus (section 155d)
Socrates: I see, my dear Theaetetus, that Theodorus had a true insight into your nature when he said that you were a philosopher, for wonder is the feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder . He was not a bad genealogist who said that Iris (the messenger of heaven) is the child of Thaumas (wonder).
( UK , informal ) A mental pondering, a thought .
1934 , Katharine Tynan, The house of dreams :Miss Paynter had a little wonder as to whether the man, as she called Mr. Lacy in her own mind, had ever been admitted to this room. She thought not.
( US ) A kind of donut ; a cruller .
Derived terms
Translations
something that causes amazement or awe, a marvel
Albanian: thagmë (sq) f
Arabic: عَجَب m ( ʕajab )
Armenian: հրաշք (hy) ( hraškʻ )
Azerbaijani: təəccüb (az)
Belarusian: цуд m ( cud ) , дзі́ва n ( dzíva )
Bulgarian: чу́до (bg) n ( čúdo )
Catalan: meravella (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 奇妙的事物 , 奇跡 / 奇迹 (zh) ( qíjì ) , 奇迹 (zh) ( qíjī )
Czech: div (cs) m , zázrak (cs) m
Danish: vidunder n , under (da) n , mirakel n
Dutch: wonder (nl) n
Dyirbal: (Jirribal) mali ?
Esperanto: mirindaĵo
Estonian: ime (et)
Faroese: undur n
Finnish: ihme (fi)
French: merveille (fr) f
German: Wunder (de) n , Mirakel (de) n
Gothic: 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌰𐍄𐌰𐌽𐌹 n ( fauratani ) , 𐍃𐌹𐌻𐌳𐌰𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌺 n ( sildaleik ) , 𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌺𐌽𐍃 ( taikns )
Greek: θαύμα (el) n ( thávma )
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Hawaiian: kāhāhā
Hebrew: פֶּלֶא (he) m ( pele )
Hindi: आश्चर्य (hi) ( āścarya )
Hungarian: csoda (hu)
Icelandic: undur (is) n
Irish: ionadh m , iontas m
Italian: meraviglia (it) f
Japanese: 驚嘆 (ja) ( きょうたん, kyōtan ) , 驚異 (ja) ( きょうい, kyōi )
Khmer: អច្ឆរិយវត្ថុ ( accʰa’re’ya’ voattʰo’ )
Korean: 놀라움 (ko) ( nollaum ) , 경이 (ko) ( gyeong'i )
Latin: miraculum n , mirabilis
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Lithuanian: stebuklas (lt) m
Low German:
German Low German: Wunner n , Mirakel n
Macedonian: чудо n ( čudo )
Malayalam: വിസ്മയം (ml) ( vismayaṁ ) , അത്ഭുതം (ml) ( atbhutaṁ )
Manx: yindys m
Maori: autaia
Mirandese: marabilha f
Northern Sami: imaš
Norwegian:
Bokmål: under (no) n , underverk n , vidunder n
Nynorsk: under n , underverk n
Occitan: meravilha (oc) f
Old Church Slavonic: дивъ m ( divŭ ) , чоудо n ( čudo )
Old English: wundor n
Persian: شگفتی (fa) ( šegefti )
Polish: cud (pl) m , dziw (pl) m
Portuguese: maravilha (pt) f
Romanian: minune (ro) , mirare (ro) f
Russian: чу́до (ru) n ( čúdo ) , ди́во (ru) n ( dívo )
Scottish Gaelic: mìorbhail f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: чудо n
Roman: čudo (sh) n
Slovak: div (sk) m , zázrak m
Slovene: čudež (sl) m
Somali: yaab
Spanish: maravilla (es) f
Swahili: maajabu (sw)
Swedish: under (sv) n , mirakel (sv) n
Tagalog: paghanga
Tatar: могҗиза (tt) ( moğciza )
Turkish: harika (tr)
Ukrainian: чу́до n ( čúdo ) , ди́во (uk) n ( dývo )
Venetian: maraveja f
West Frisian: wûnder n
something astonishing and seemingly inexplicable
someone very talented at something, a genius
sense of awe or astonishment
Verb
wonder (third-person singular simple present wonders , present participle wondering , simple past and past participle wondered )
( intransitive ) To be affected with surprise or admiration; to be struck with astonishment ; to be amazed ; to marvel ; often followed by at .
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1751 October 19 (Gregorian calendar), Samuel Johnson , “No. 163. Tuesday, October 8. 1751. ”, in The Rambler , volume VII, Edinburgh: [ … ] Sands, Murray, and Cochran; sold by W. Gordon, C. Wright, J. Yair, [ … ] , published 1752 , →OCLC , page 35 :Some had read the manuſcript, and rectified its inaccuracies; others had ſeen it in a ſtate ſo imperfect, that they could not forbear to wonder at its preſent excellence; [ …]
1897 December (indicated as 1898 ), Winston Churchill , chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode , New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company ; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd. , →OCLC , page 58 :The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.
( transitive , intransitive ) To ponder ; to feel doubt and curiosity ; to query in the mind.
He wondered whether penguins could fly. She had wondered this herself sometimes.
c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [ … ] (First Folio ), London: [ … ] Isaac Iaggard , and Ed[ ward] Blount , published 1623 , →OCLC , [ Act III, scene iii] , page 323 , column 1:I wonder in my Soule / What you would aske me, that I ſhould deny [ …]
Conjugation
Derived terms
Synonyms
Translations
to be affected with surprise
Bulgarian: учудвам се ( učudvam se )
Catalan: sorprendre's , quedar-se estorat (ca) m
Danish: studse , forundre
Dutch: zich verwonderen (nl)
Finnish: hämmästellä (fi) , ihmetellä (fi) , kummastella (fi)
French: s’étonner (fr) , être étonné (fr)
German: sich wundern (de)
Greek: θαυμάζω (el) ( thavmázo ) , μένω έκθαμβος ( méno ékthamvos )
Ancient: θαυμάζω ( thaumázō )
Hebrew: הִתְפַּלֵּא (he) ( hitpalé )
Hungarian: csodálkozik (hu) , meglepődik (hu)
Icelandic: undra (is)
Irish:
Old Irish: ad·amraigedar
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Korean: 놀라다 (ko) ( nollada )
Latin: miror
Malagasy: gaga (mg) , talanjona (mg)
Maori: māharo , mīharo , miha
Ngazidja Comorian: utaâdjaɓu
Northern Sami: imaštit , imaštallat
Old English: wundrian
Persian: شگفتیدن (fa) ( šegeftidan )
Polish: zdumiewać się (pl) impf , zdumieć się (pl) pf , nadziwić się pf ( used with "nie móc" )
Spanish: maravillarse (es) , sorprenderse (es)
Swedish: förundras (sv)
Venetian: farse marevea , meravejarse
to ponder about something
Arabic: تَسَاءَلَ ( tasāʔala ) ( to ask oneself )
Belarusian: здзіўля́цца impf ( zdziŭljácca ) , ціка́віцца impf ( cikávicca ) ( be interested to know )
Bulgarian: пи́там се ( pítam se ) , чудя се ( čudja se )
Catalan: preguntar-se
Chickasaw: anhit ishtanokfilli
Chinese:
Mandarin: 想 知道 ( xiǎng zhīdào )
Czech: podivovat se , uvažovat (cs)
Danish: undre , spørge sig
Dutch: zich afvragen
Finnish: ihmetellä (fi) , miettiä (fi) , pohtia (fi) , tuumia (fi) , tuumailla (fi) , aprikoida (fi)
French: se demander (fr)
German: sich fragen
Greek: αναρωτιέμαι (el) ( anarotiémai ) , απορώ (el) ( aporó )
Hebrew: תהה ( tahá )
Hungarian: tűnődik (hu) , eltűnődik (hu) , mereng (hu) , elmereng (hu) , ( curious ) kíváncsi (hu) , ( I wonder ) vajon (hu)
Italian: domandarsi (it) , chiedersi (it)
Korean: 의심하다 (ko) ( uisimhada ) , 궁금하다 (ko) ( gunggeumhada )
Latin: dubito (la)
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Low German:
German Low German: sik wunnern , sik verwunnern , wunnerwarken , baff wesen
Macedonian: се пра́шува ( se prášuva )
Maori: mīharo , whakamīharo
Northern Sami: imaštit , imaštallat
Norwegian: undres
Old English: wundrian
Polish: zastanawiać się (pl) impf
Portuguese: ponderar (pt) , perguntar-se
Romanian: mira (ro)
Russian: удивля́ться (ru) impf ( udivljátʹsja ) , интересова́ться (ru) impf ( interesovátʹsja ) ( be interested to know ) , спра́шивать себя́ (ru) impf ( sprášivatʹ sebjá ) ( ask oneself )
Serbo-Croatian: pitati se (sh) , čuditi se (sh)
Slovene: tuhtati
Spanish: preguntarse (es) , ponderar (es)
Swahili: maajabu (sw)
Swedish: undra (sv) , fråga sig
Turkish: merak etmek (tr) , kızıksınmak
Ukrainian: дивува́тися impf ( dyvuvátysja ) , ціка́витися (uk) impf ( cikávytysja ) ( be interested to know )
Venetian: dimandarse
Anagrams
Dutch
Etymology
From Middle Dutch wonder , wunder , from Old Dutch wundar , from Proto-Germanic *wundrą , from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- ( “ to wish for, desire, strive for, win, love ” ) . Compare Low German wunder , wunner , German Wunder , West Frisian wonder , wûnder , English wonder , Danish under .
Pronunciation
Noun
wonder n (plural wonderen , diminutive wondertje n )
wonder , miracle
Synonyms
Derived terms
Descendants
Anagrams