The Collaborative Dictionary

Wisdom \Wis"dom\ (-d[u^]m), n. [AS. w[imac]sd[=o]m. See Wise, a., and -dom.] [1913 Webster]

The quality of being wise; knowledge, and the capacity to make due use of it; knowledge of the best ends and the best means; discernment and judgment; discretion; sagacity; skill; dexterity. [1913 Webster] We speak also not in wise words of man's wisdom, but in the doctrine of the spirit. --Wyclif (1 Cor. ii. 13). [1913 Webster] Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding. --Job xxviii.

[1913 Webster] It is hoped that our rulers will act with dignity and wisdom that they will yield everything to reason, and refuse everything to force. --Ames. [1913 Webster] Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom. --Coleridge. [1913 Webster]

The results of wise judgments; scientific or practical truth; acquired knowledge; erudition. [1913 Webster] Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. --Acts vii.

[1913 Webster] Syn: Prudence; knowledge. Usage: Wisdom, Prudence, Knowledge. Wisdom has been defined to be "the use of the best means for attaining the best ends." "We conceive," says Whewell, " prudence as the virtue by which we select right means for given ends, while wisdom implies the selection of right ends as well as of right means." Hence, wisdom implies the union of high mental and moral excellence. Prudence (that is, providence, or forecast) is of a more negative character; it rather consists in avoiding danger than in taking decisive measures for the accomplishment of an object. Sir Robert Walpole was in many respects a prudent statesman, but he was far from being a wise one. Burke has said that prudence, when carried too far, degenerates into a "reptile virtue," which is the more dangerous for its plausible appearance. Knowledge, a more comprehensive term, signifies the simple apprehension of facts or relations. "In strictness of language," says Paley, " there is a difference between knowledge and wisdom; wisdom always supposing action, and action directed by it." [1913 Webster] Knowledge and wisdom, far from being one, Have ofttimes no connection. Knowledge dwells In heads replete with thoughts of other men; Wisdom, in minds attentive to their own. Knowledge, a rude, unprofitable mass, The mere materials with which wisdom builds, Till smoothed, and squared, and fitted to its place, Does but encumber whom it seems to enrich. Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much; Wisdom is humble that he knows no more. --Cowper. [1913 Webster] Wisdom tooth, the last, or back, tooth of the full set on each half of each jaw in man; -- familiarly so called, because appearing comparatively late, after the person may be supposed to have arrived at the age of wisdom. See the Note under Tooth,

[1913 Webster]

Word Net

wisdom

1 accumulated knowledge or erudition or enlightenment

2 the trait of utilizing knowledge and experience with common sense and insight [syn: wiseness] [ant: folly]

3 ability to apply knowledge or experience or understanding or common sense and insight [syn: sapience]

4 the quality of being prudent and sensible [syn: wiseness, soundness]

5 an Apocryphal book consisting mainly of a meditation on wisdom; although ascribed to Solomon it was probably written in the first century BC [syn: Wisdom of Solomon]

Moby Thesaurus

Sophia, adage, advantage, advantageousness, advisability, ana, analects, aphorism, apothegm, apprehension, appropriateness, axiom, beneficialness, broad-mindedness, byword, catchword, clairvoyance, collected sayings, command, comprehension, conception, conceptualization, convenience, current saying, decency, depth, desirability, dictate, dictum, distich, epigram, erudition, expedience, expediency, expression, feasibility, fitness, fittingness, foreknowledge, fruitfulness, gnome, golden saying, good sense, good understanding, grasp, grip, gumption, horse sense, ideation, information, insight, intellection, intelligence, judgment, judiciousness, know-it-all, lore, mastery, maxim, mellow wisdom, mental grasp, moral, mot, motto, opportuneness, oracle, percentage, perspicacity, phrase, pithy saying, politicness, precept, precognition, prehension, prescript, profit, profitability, profoundness, profundity, propriety, proverb, proverbial saying, proverbs, prudence, rightness, ripe wisdom, sagaciousness, sagacity, sageness, saneness, sapience, savvy, saw, saying, science, seasonableness, seasoned understanding, seemliness, sentence, sententious expression, shrewdness, sloka, smart, smarty, smarty-pants, sound understanding, stock saying, suitability, sutra, teaching, text, timeliness, understanding, usefulness, verse, wisdom literature, wise guy, wise saying, wiseacre, wisecracker, wisehead, wiseness, wisenheimer, witticism, word, words of wisdom, worthwhileness

see Wisdom

English

Pronunciation

• /ˈwɪzdəm/

Etymology

From wise + noun of state suffix -dom, equivalent to -ness, -head, and -hood

Noun

1. An element of personal character that enables one to distinguish the wise from the unwise.
2. A piece of wise advice.
3. The discretionary use of knowledge for the greatest good.
4. The ability to apply relevant knowledge in an insightful way, especially to different situations from that in which the knowledge was gained.
5. The ability to make a decision based on the combination of knowledge, experience, and intuitive understanding.
6. The ability to know and apply spiritual truths.

Derived terms

• wisdom tooth
• conventional wisdom

Related terms

• wise
• Wissen (German)

Translations