wunderkind

See also: Wunderkind

WOTD – 7 October 2007

English

Etymology

From German Wunderkind, from Wunder (“wonder”) + Kind (“child”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvʊn.də.kɪnd/, /ˈwʊn.də.kɪnd/
• IPA^(key): /ˈvʊn.dɚ.kɪnt/, /ˈvʊn.dɚ.kɪnd/, /ˈwʊn.dɚ.kɪnd/, /ˈwʌn.dɚ.kɪnd/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (US):

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Noun

wunderkind (plural wunderkinder or wunderkinds)

1. A child prodigy; a phenom.
2. A highly talented or gifted individual; one who is successful at a young age.
   • 2009 January 28, Ravi Somaiya, “It’s the Economy, Girlfriend”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     Harriet Pappenheim, a psychotherapist at Park Avenue Relationship Consultants who wrote “For Richer or Poorer,” a 2006 book on money in marriage, said that the repercussions could be acute for Wall Street wunderkinds who define their identities through their job titles and the size of their bonuses.

Synonyms

• Thesaurus:child prodigy

Translations

child prodigy — see child prodigy

highly talented individual who is successful at a young age

• Finnish: ihmelapsi
• German: Wunderkind (de) n
• Hungarian: csodagyerek (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian: vidunderbarn n
• Polish: dziecko szczęścia (pl) n
• Russian: вундерки́нд (ru) m (vunderkínd)