wise

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Able to make good decisions thanks to knowledge and experience.

   She is a wise and trusted leader.

2. 2
   adj

   Sensible; showing good judgement.

   Saving money for the winter was a wise decision.

3. 3
   adj

   Aware of or informed about something, often with 'to'.

   Be careful: the boss is wise to your plan.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Wise comes from Old English and shares an ancient root meaning “to know” with wisdom and wit. The related suffix -wise, as in clockwise and lengthwise, means “way” or “manner.”

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”).

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary