wholesome

English

Etymology

From earlier holesome, from Middle English holsom, holsum, helsum, halsum, from Old English *hālsum, *hǣlsum, from Proto-West Germanic *hailasam, from Proto-Germanic *hailasamaz, equivalent to whole +‎ -some or hale (“healthy”) +‎ -some. Cognate with Saterland Frisian heelsoam, Dutch heilzaam, German Low German heelsaam, German heilsam, Icelandic heilsamur, Norwegian Nynorsk helsesam, Swedish hälsosam (“wholesome”).

Pronunciation

(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhoʊl.səm/
(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhəʊl.səm/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Rhymes: -əʊlsəm
Hyphenation: whole‧some

Adjective

wholesome (comparative more wholesome or wholesomer, superlative most wholesome or wholesomest)

Promoting good physical health and well-being.
- c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], page 223, column 2:
  I prethee go, and get me ſome repaſt,
  I care not what, ſo it be holſome foode.
Promoting moral and mental well-being.
- 1750, “Theodora”, Thomas Morell (lyrics), George Frideric Handel (music)‎^[1]:
  Though hard, my friends, yet wholesome are the truths, taught in affliction's school, whence the pure soul rises refined, and soars above the world.
Favorable to morals, religion or prosperity; sensible; conducive to good; salutary; promoting virtue or being virtuous.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 15:4, column 1:
  A wholeſome tongue is a tree of life: but peruerſneſſe therein is a breach in the ſpirit.
Marked by wholeness; sound and healthy.
Decent; innocuous; sweet.
- 1697, Virgil, “The Fourth Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 128, lines 195–196:
  Sometimes white Lyllies did their Leaves afford,
  With wholſom Polly-flow'rs, to mend his homely Board: […]
- 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 171:
  The more solicitous of the two was Nurse Cramer, a shapely, pretty, sexless girl with a wholesome unattractive face.
- 2017 April 13, Mitchy Collins, Samantha Derosa, Christian Medice, “Broken”, in Finding It Hard to Smile‎^[2], performed by Lovelytheband:
  There's something tragic, but almost pure
  Think I could love you, but I'm not sure
  There's something wholesome, there's something sweet
  Tucked in your eyes that I'd love to meet
- 2019, Gretchen McCulloch, Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language, Riverhead Books, →ISBN:
  Around the same time, “wholesome” memes of cute doggos and puppers rejuvenated social media feeds that seemed daily filled with fresh horrors.
- 2020 February 3, Kaitlyn Tiffany, “The Misogynistic Joke That Became a Goth-Meme Fairy Tale”, in The Atlantic‎^[3]:
  The comment section on a recent post making fun of a “cute” and “wholesome” Doomer Girl meme is mixed.

Derived terms

Translations

promoting good health, and well-being

Bulgarian: здравосло́вен (bg) (zdravoslóven)
Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Danish: sund (da), helsebringende
Esperanto: saniga
Faroese: heilsugóður, heilsugevandi
Finnish: terveellinen (fi)
French: salubre (fr), sain (fr)
Georgian: ჯანმრთელი (ǯanmrteli), საღი (saɣi)
German: gesund (de), heilsam (de), gesundheitsfördernd, gesundheitsförderlich
Hungarian: jótékony (hu), egészséges (hu), tápláló (hu), jóleső (hu)
Irish: folláin
Italian: salubre (it)
Macedonian: по́лезен (pólezen), благо́творен (blagótvoren)
Maori: whakahauora
Middle English: holsom
Occitan: san (oc), salubre (oc)
Polish: zdrowy (pl)
Portuguese: saudável (pt)
Russian: поле́зный (ru) (poléznyj), благотво́рный (ru) (blagotvórnyj)
Spanish: saludable (es)
Swedish: no equivalent term in Swedish, but see helylle, hälsosam (sv),nyttig (sv), sund (sv)
Thai: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: sağlıklı (tr), sıhhatli (tr)

favourable to morals, religion or prosperity; sensible; conducive to good; salutary; promoting virtue or being virtuous

Bulgarian: здравосло́вен (bg) (zdravoslóven)
Danish: retskaffen
Dutch: deugdelijk (nl)
Finnish: hyveellinen, tervehenkinen
French: vertueux (fr)
Georgian: კეთილთვისებიანი (ḳetiltvisebiani)
German: tugendhaft (de), rechtschaffen (de)
Hungarian: üdvös (hu), helyes (hu), erényes (hu), épületes (hu), tanulságos (hu)
Macedonian: доброде́телен (dobrodételen)
Middle English: holsom
Occitan: vertuós (oc)
Portuguese: íntegro (pt)
Russian: добродетельный (ru) (dobrodetelʹnyj), благонравный (ru) (blagonravnyj)
Serbo-Croatian: blagotvoran (sh) m
Spanish: íntegro (es)
Swedish: no equivalent term in Swedish, but see helylle
Turkish: erdemli (tr), faziletli (tr)

marked by wholeness; sound and healthy

Bulgarian: здравосло́вен (bg) (zdravoslóven)
Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Czech: zdravý (cs)
Danish: sund (da)
Esperanto: sana (eo)
Finnish: terve (fi)
French: sain (fr)
Galician: forte (gl), san (gl)
Georgian: ჯანმრთელი (ǯanmrteli), საღი (saɣi)
German: gesund (de), förderlich (de)
Hebrew: בריא (he)
Hungarian: üdvös (hu), egészséges (hu), hasznos (hu)
Macedonian: здрав (zdrav)
Maori: hauora
Occitan: san (oc)
Portuguese: salutar (pt)
Russian: здоровый (ru) (zdorovyj)
Spanish: sano (es), lozano (es), edificante (es), substancioso
Swedish: hälsosam (sv), nyttig (sv), sund (sv)
Thai: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: faydalı (tr), yaralı (tr)

decent; innocuous; sweet

Hungarian: üdítő (hu), kedves (hu), jóleső (hu), szívmelengető (hu)
Spanish: conmovedor (es), edificante (es), enternecedor (es), íntegro (es), tierno (es)

References

William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “wholesome”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
“wholesome”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.