wholesome

English

Etymology

From earlier holesome, from Middle English holsom, holsum, helsum, halsum, from Old English *hālsum, *hǣlsum, from Proto-Germanic *hailasamaz, equivalent to whole +‎ -some. Cognate with Dutch heilzaam, Icelandic heilsamur, Norwegian Nynorsk helsesam, Swedish hälsosam (“wholesome”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈhoʊlsəm/

Adjective

wholesome (comparative wholesomer, superlative wholesomest)

1. Promoting good physical health and well-being.
2. Promoting moral and mental well-being.
   • 1750, Thomas Morell (lyrics), George Frideric Handel (music), “'Theodora'”‎^[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.

3. Marked by wholeness; sound and healthy.
4. Promoting virtue or being virtuous.

Synonyms

• (promoting health): healthy, healthful, salubrious

Antonyms

• unwholesome

Derived terms

• wholesomely
• wholesomeness

Translations

promoting good health, and well-being

• Danish: sund (da), helsebringende
• Faroese: heilsugóður, heilsugevandi
• Finnish: terveellinen (fi)
• German: gesund (de), heilsam (de), gesundheitsfördernd, gesundheitsförderlich
• Irish: folláin
• Italian: salubre (it)

• Maori: whakahauora
• Occitan: san (oc), salubre
• Polish: zdrowy (pl) m, zdrowa f, zdrowe n, zdrowi m pl, zdrowe f pl, n pl
• Spanish: saludable (es)
• Turkish: sağlıklı (tr), sıhhatli (tr)

sound and healthy

• Czech: zdravý (cs)
• Finnish: terve (fi)
• German: gesund (de), förderlich (de)
• Hebrew: בריא‎ (he)
• Maori: hauora

• Occitan: san (oc)
• Russian: здоровый (ru) (zdorovyj)
• Spanish: sano (es)
• Turkish: faydalı (tr), yaralı (tr)

promoting virtue or being virtuous

• Dutch: deugdelijk (nl)
• Finnish: hyveellinen, tervehenkinen
• German: tugendhaft (de), rechtschaffen (de)
• Occitan: vertuós

• Russian: добродетельный (ru) (dobrodetelʹnyj), благонравный (ru) (blagonravnyj)
• Spanish: íntegro (es)
• Turkish: erdemli (tr), faziletli (tr)

References

• wholesome in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• wholesome in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.