wise meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

wise

adj

/waɪz/

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *weyd- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *wéydos Proto-Indo-European *weyd-s-ós Proto-Germanic *wīsaz Old English wīs Middle English wys, wyse English wise 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.

1

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.

2

Colloquial, Ironic, Sarcastic Disrespectful.

Don't get wise with me!

3

Colloquial Aware, informed (to something).

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

Synonyms: astute, clairvoyant, deep, frood, grounded, judicious, oracular, perspicacious, politic, profound, prudent, quick-witted, reasonable, sagacious, sage, sapient, sensible, wise, witful
Antonyms: unwise, foolish
Derived terms: 40 terms
blow wise to, crack wise, get wise, in like wise, it is a wise child that knows his own father, it is easy to be wise after the event, not wise, penny wise and pound foolish, put someone wise, seawise, three wise men, wisdom, wise aleck, wise apple, wise-apple, wise as an owl, wiseass, wise-ass, wise beyond one's years, wisecrack, wise-cracking, wise folk, wise gal, wise guy, wise-guy, wise head on young shoulders, wise-hearted, wise-like, wiselike, wiseling, wise man, wisen, wiseness, wise off, wise up, wise woman, wizard, word to the wise, worldly wise, you can't put a wise head on young shoulders
Related terms: intelligent, learned, wily
Hyponyms: shrewd, streetwise

wise

verb

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *weyd- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *wéydos Proto-Indo-European *weyd-s-ós Proto-Germanic *wīsaz Old English wīs Middle English wys, wyse English wise 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.

1

To become wise.

2

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.

wise

noun

Etymology From Middle English wise, from Old English wīse, from Proto-Germanic *wīsō. Cognate with Dutch wijze, German Weise, Norwegian vis, Swedish visa, vis, Italian guisa, Spanish guisa. Compare -wise. Doublet of guise.

1

Archaic Way, manner, or method.

In such wise that all the beasts, great and small, came to the court save Reynard the Fox.1481, William Caxton, The History of Reynard the Fox^(https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Historye_of_Reynard_the_Foxe/capitulo_.primo._(2)):
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.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 1:18:

4 more examples

[…] the prize Dead Greece vouchsafes to living eyes, — Her Art for ever in fresh wise From hour to hour rejoicing me.1850, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The Burden of Nineveh, lines 2–5:
A riven hood was pulled across his eyes; The token of him being upon this wise Made for a sign of Lust.1866, Algernon Swinburne, A Ballad of Life, lines 28–30:
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.1926, J. S. Fletcher, Sea Fog, page 308:
Meantime a serious question came up for discussion.[…]The discussion arose somewhat in this wise. The President of the Society was Mr. Hills, proprietor of the Thames Iron Works. He was a puritan. […]1927, M[ohandas] K[aramchand] Gandhi, chapter XVIII, in Mahadev Desai, transl., The Story of My Experiments with Truth: Translated from the Original in Gujarati, volume I, Ahmedabad, Gujarat: Navajivan Press, →OCLC:

Derived terms: -wise, alwise, nowise

wise

verb

Etymology From Middle English wisen (“to advise, direct”), from Old English wisian (“to show the way, guide, direct”), from Proto-West Germanic *wīsōn, from Proto-Germanic *wīsōną (“to show the way, dispense knowledge”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to know”). Compare Dutch wijzen (“to indicate, point out”), German weisen (“to show, indicate”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål vise (“to show”), Norwegian Nynorsk visa (“to show”).

1

Dialectal To instruct.

2

Dialectal To advise; induce.

3

Dialectal To show the way, guide.

4

Dialectal To direct the course of, pilot.

5

Dialectal To cause to turn.