wise

Definition of wise

17 senses · 4 parts of speech · etymology included

adj

Showing good judgement or the benefit of experience.

“Storing extra food for the winter was a wise decision.”
“They were considered the wise old men of the administration.”

See all 17 definitions

adj

Showing good judgement or the benefit of experience.

“Storing extra food for the winter was a wise decision.”
“They were considered the wise old men of the administration.”
(colloquial, ironic, sarcastic)Disrespectful.

“Don't get wise with me!”
(colloquial)Aware, informed (to something).

“Be careful: the boss is wise to your plan to call out sick.”

verb

To become wise.
(ergative, slang)Usually with "up", to inform or learn.

“Mo wised him up about his situation.”
“After Mo had a word with him, he wised up.”
(dialectal)To instruct.
(dialectal)To advise; induce.
(dialectal)To show the way, guide.
(dialectal)To direct the course of, pilot.
(dialectal)To cause to turn.

noun

(archaic)Way, manner, or method.

“In such wise that all the beasts, great and small, came to the court save Reynard the Fox.”
“Now the birth of Iesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Ioseph (before they came together) shee was found with childe of the holy Ghost.”
“[…] the prize Dead Greece vouchsafes to living eyes, — Her Art for ever in fresh wise From hour to hour rejoicing me.”
“A riven hood was pulled across his eyes; The token of him being upon this wise Made for a sign of Lust.”
“And within a few minutes the rest of us were on our way too, judiciously instructed by Parkapple and the Brighton official, and disposed of in two taxi-cabs, the drivers of which were ordered to convey us to Rottingdean in such wise that each set his load of humanity at different parts of the village and at the same time that the bus was due to arrive at the hotel.”
(abbreviation, acronym, alt-of)Acronym of wing-in-surface effect.

name

A surname.
A township in Isabella County, Michigan, United States.
An unincorporated community in Warren County, North Carolina, United States.
A town, the county seat of Wise County, Virginia, United States.
(US, abbreviation, acronym, alt-of)Acronym of Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (“a NASA infrared-wavelength astronomical space telescope that performed an all-sky astronomical survey with images in 3-22 μm wavelength bands”).

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Middle English wys, wyse, from Old English wīs (“wise”), from Proto-Germanic *wīsaz (“knowledgeable, wise”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéydos (“seeing; knowledge”), from *weyd- (“to see”). Cognates Cognate with West Frisian wiis…

See full etymology

From Middle English wys, wyse, from Old English wīs (“wise”), from Proto-Germanic *wīsaz (“knowledgeable, wise”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéydos (“seeing; knowledge”), from *weyd- (“to see”). Cognates Cognate with West Frisian wiis (“wise”), Dutch wijs (“wise”), German weis, weise (“wise”), Low German wies (“wise; clever”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish vis (“wise”), Icelandic vís (“wise; certain”), Gothic *𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃 (*weis, “wise”); also Irish fios (“knowledge; information”), Manx fys (“knowledge; information”), Scottish Gaelic fhios, fios (“knowledge; information”), Welsh gwys, gwŷs (“citation, summons”), Latin videō (“to look, perceive, see; to note, observe; to comprehend, understand”), Greek είδος (eídos, “form, kind, type”), Albanian vizë (“line, stripe, track; dash”), Latvian veids (“form, kind, mode, type”), Lithuanian veidas (“face; appearance, aspect, look”), Belarusian ве́даць (vjédacʹ, “to know”), Bulgarian вям (vjam, “to know”), Czech vědět (“to know”), Polish wiedzieć (“to know”), Russian ве́дать (védatʹ, “to know”), Serbo-Croatian vedeti, viedieti (“to know”), Slovak vedieť (“to know”), Slovene vedeti (“to know”), Ukrainian ві́дати (vídaty, “to know”), Armenian գիտեմ (gitem, “I know”), գիտենալ (gitenal), գիտնալ (gitnal, “to know”), Avestan 𐬬𐬀𐬉𐬛 (vaēd, “find”), 𐬬𐬌𐬛 (vid, “to know”), Persian نوید (navid / nawīd, nuwēd, “invitation; annunciation; good news”), Tocharian A ime (“awareness, consciousness, memory, thought”), Tocharian B īme (“awareness, consciousness, memory, thought”), ūwe (“educated, learned, knowledgeable”), Sanskrit वेदस् (vedas, “knowledge, science; property, wealth”). Compare wit.

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