wild
English edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Middle English wild, wilde, from Old English wilde, from Proto-West Germanic *wilþī, from Proto-Germanic *wilþijaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (“hair, wool, grass, ear (of corn), forest”).
Adjective edit
wild (comparative wilder, superlative wildest)
- Untamed; not domesticated; specifically, in an unbroken line of undomesticated animals (as opposed to feral, referring to undomesticated animals whose ancestors were domesticated).
- Antonym: tame
- c. 1527–1542, Thomas Wyatt, “Who so list to hounte”, in Egerton MS 2711[1], page 7v:
- noli me tangere for Ceſars I ame
and wylde for to hold though I ſeme tame
- c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv]:
- Winter's not gone yet, if the wild geese fly that way.
- 1637, John Milton, “Lycidas”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 58:
- Thee Shepherd, thee the Woods, and deſert caves, / With wilde Thyme and the gadding Vine o'regrown,
- 2013 May–June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:
- Plant breeding is always a numbers game. […] The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, and individual plants are highly heterozygous and do not breed true. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better.
- Przewalski's horses are the only remaining wild horses.
- From or relating to wild creatures.
- wild honey
- Unrestrained or uninhibited.
- I was filled with wild rage when I discovered the infidelity, and punched a hole in the wall.
- 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Prologue:
- Forgive these wild and wandering cries,
Confusions of a wasted youth;
Forgive them where they fail in truth,
And in thy wisdom make me wise.
- Raucous, unruly, or licentious.
- The fraternity was infamous for its wild parties, which frequently resulted in police involvement.
- (electrical engineering) Of unregulated and varying frequency.
- The aircraft's navigational equipment should not be powered from the wild AC bus except in an emergency, as its computers can be damaged by variations in electrical frequency.
- Visibly and overtly anxious; frantic.
- 2011 August 7, Chris Bevan, “Man City 2-3 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport:
- City, in contrast, were lethargic in every area of the pitch and their main contribution in the first half-hour was to keep referee Phil Dowd busy, with Micah Richards among four of their players booked early on, in his case for a wild lunge on Young.
- Her mother was wild with fear when she didn't return home after the party.
- Furious; very angry.
- Disheveled, tangled, or untidy.
- After a week on the trail without a mirror, my hair was wild and dirty.
- Enthusiastic.
- I'm not wild about the idea of a two day car trip with my nephews, but it's my only option.
- Very inaccurate; far off the mark.
- The novice archer fired a wild shot and hit her opponent's target.
- Exposed to the wind and sea; unsheltered.
- a wild roadstead
- (nautical, of a vessel) Hard to steer.
- (mathematics, of a knot) Not capable of being represented as a finite closed polygonal chain.
- Antonym: tame
- (slang) Amazing, awesome, unbelievable.
- Did you hear? Pat won the lottery! — Wow, that's wild!
- Able to stand in for others, e.g. a card in games, or a text character in computer pattern matching.
- In this card game, aces are wild: they can take the place of any other card.
- 2009, Leonardo Vanneschi, Steven Gustafson, Alberto Moraglio, Genetic Programming: 12th European Conference:
- We define a pattern as a valid GP subtree that might contain wild characters [i.e. wildcards] in any of its nodes.
- Of an audio recording: intended to be synchronized with film or video but recorded separately.
- a wild track; wild sound
Synonyms edit
- See Thesaurus:wild
Derived terms edit
- African wild dog
- American wild plum
- Asian wild dog
- Asiatic wild ass
- a wild goose never laid a tame egg
- buck wild
- deuces wild
- go wild
- half-wild
- hog-wild
- Indian wild ass
- in the wild
- Manchurian wild rice
- Mongolian wild ass
- northern wild rice
- run wild
- semi-wild
- sow one's wild oats
- sow wild oats
- sow wild oats
- take a walk on the wild side
- Virginia wild rye
- walk on the wild side
- wild allspice (Lindera benzoin)
- wild almond
- wild and woolly
- wild and wooly
- wild and wooly
- wild aneth (Meum athamanticum)
- wild-animal
- wild animal
- wild as a Tuckernuck steer
- wild as a wet hen
- wild asparagus
- wild-ass
- wild ass
- wild balsam apple (Echinopepon wrightii)
- wild basil
- wild bergamot
- wild blueberry
- wild boar (Sus scrofa)
- wild buckwheat
- wild bugloss
- wild cabbage
- wild-card
- wildcard
- wild card
- wild carrot (Daucus carota)
- wild cat
- wild-cat
- wildcat (Felis silvestris or Lynx rufus)
- wildcat strike
- wildcatter
- wild celery
- wild chamomile (Matricaria discoidea or Tripleurospermum inodorum)
- wild cherry (Prunus avium or Prunus serotina)
- wild chicory
- wild child
- wild cotton
- wildcrafting
- wild cucumber
- wild cumin (Bunium bulbocastanum)
- wild custard apple
- wild dill (Meum athamanticum)
- wild drake
- wild duck
- wild duck
- wildebeest (Connochaetes spp.)
- wild eggplant
- wild elder (Sambucus spp. or Nuxia floribunda)
- wilden
- wilder
- wilderness
- wildest
- wild-eyed
- wild feed
- wildfire
- wildflower, wild flower
- wildfowl
- wild foxtail millet
- wild garlic
- wild geranium (Geranium maculatum)
- wild ginger
- wild goat
- wild goose
- wild goose chase
- wild-goose chase
- wild guess
- wild haggis
- wild hair
- wild horse
- wild hyacinth
- wild indigo
- wilding
- wild ipecacuanha
- wild Irishman (Isopogon ceratophyllus)
- wildish
- wild land
- wild leek
- wild lettuce (Lactuca virosa)
- wild licorice
- wild life
- wildlife
- wild lily-of-the-valley
- wild line
- wild loquat
- wild loquat
- wildly
- wild mammee
- wild man
- wild-man
- wild mangosteen
- wild man syndrome
- wild marjoram (Origanum vulgare)
- wild mint
- wild mustard (Sinapis arvensis subsp. arvensis, syn. Brassica kaber)
- wildness
- wild oat (Avena spp. et al.)
- wild oats
- wild olive
- wild onion
- wild orange
- wild out
- wild ox
- wild ox
- wild pansy
- wild passionfruit
- wild pieplant (Rumex hymenosepalus)
- wild pig
- wild pigeon
- wild pig syndrome
- wild pink (Silene caroliniana or Dianthus sect. Fimbriatum spp.)
- wild pitch
- wild plantain (Heliconia)
- wild plum
- wild potato
- wild purslane (Portulaca oleracea)
- wild radish
- wild rhubarb (Rumex hymenosepalus)
- wild rice (Zizania)
- wild river
- wild rosemary
- wild rue
- wild rye (Elymus spp. or Leymus spp.)
- wild service tree
- wild soursop
- wild Spaniard (Aciphylla colensol, Aciphylla squarrosa)
- wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca)
- wildstyle
- wild succory
- wild Syrian rue
- wild thing
- wild thing
- wild thyme
- wild tobacco
- wild track
- wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)
- wild turmeric (Curcuma aromatica)
- wild-type
- wild type
- wild vanilla (Vanilla planifolia)
- wild weasel
- wild weasel
- wild wee
- Wild West
- wildwood
Translations edit
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Adverb edit
wild (not comparable)
- Inaccurately; not on target.
- The javelin flew wild and struck a spectator, to the horror of all observing.
- (of an audio recording) Intended to be synchronized with film or video but recorded separately.
- Let's record it wild.
Noun edit
wild (plural wilds)
- (singular, with "the") The undomesticated state of a wild animal.
- After mending the lion's leg, we returned him to the wild.
- (chiefly in the plural) A wilderness.
- 1730–1774, Oliver Goldsmith, Introductory to Switzerland
- Thus every good his native wilds impart
Imprints the patriot passion on his heart;
And e’en those ills that round his mansion rise
Enhance the bliss his scanty funds supplies.
- Thus every good his native wilds impart
- 1730–1774, Oliver Goldsmith, Introductory to Switzerland
Derived terms edit
Verb edit
wild (third-person singular simple present wilds, present participle wilding, simple past and past participle wilded)
- (intransitive, slang) To commit random acts of assault, robbery, and rape in an urban setting, especially as a gang.
- 1989 April 22, David E. Pitt, “Jogger's Attackers Terrorized at Least 9 in 2 Hours”, in New York Times, page 1:
- ...Chief of Detectives Robert Colangelo, who said the attacks appeared unrelated to money, race, drugs, or alcohol, said that some of the 20 youths brought in for questioning has told investigators that the crime spree was the product of a pastime called "wilding".
"It's not a term that we in the police had heard before," the chief said, noting that the police were unaware of any similar incident in the park recently. "They just said, 'We were going wilding.' In my mind at this point, it implies that they were going to raise hell."...
- 1999, Busta Rhymes (Trevor Taheim Smith, Jr.), Iz They Wildin Wit Us? (song)
- Now is they wildin with us / And getting rowdy with us.
- (intransitive, slang) (In the form wilding or wildin') To act in a strange or unexpected way.
- 2021 April 6, Shirley Ju, “The New Voice of Brooklyn is Here To 'Drench 'Em'”, in Flaunt Magazine[2], archived from the original on 7 September 2022:
- They had a big influence on me. They had a big influence on Brooklyn period. I like the nonsense. [laughs] They were wildin'. Everyone in Brooklyn was liking that shit. They're wildin'. Their story in the stu, it gets deep.
- 2021 October 14, Jack Beresford, “Hospital Security Guard 'Heartbroken' After Being Fired Over Viral Video Confrontation”, in Newsweek[3]:
- Kinsey posted a clip of the incident alongside a caption that reads: "Damn the ER in Tulsa be wildin'."
- 2022 April 20, A. Sherrod Blakely, “The Neverending Disappointment of Kyrie Irving”, in Bleacher Report[4]:
- The Ringer's Culture/NBA writer Wosney Lambre said it best: "I think it's a bad look for the players to be wilding on the fans like this. Fair or not, the players are held to a higher standard of decorum than the loser fans. It is what it is."
Etymology 2 edit
Noun edit
wild (plural wilds)
- Alternative form of weald
Afrikaans edit
Etymology edit
From Dutch wild, from Middle Dutch wilt, from Old Dutch *wildi, from Proto-Germanic *wilþijaz.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
wild (attributive wilde, comparative wilder, superlative wildste)
Dutch edit
Etymology edit
From Middle Dutch wilt, from Old Dutch wildi, from Proto-West Germanic *wilþī, from Proto-Germanic *wilþijaz.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
wild (comparative wilder, superlative wildst)
Inflection edit
Inflection of wild | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
uninflected | wild | |||
inflected | wilde | |||
comparative | wilder | |||
positive | comparative | superlative | ||
predicative/adverbial | wild | wilder | het wildst het wildste | |
indefinite | m./f. sing. | wilde | wildere | wildste |
n. sing. | wild | wilder | wildste | |
plural | wilde | wildere | wildste | |
definite | wilde | wildere | wildste | |
partitive | wilds | wilders | — |
Derived terms edit
Descendants edit
- Afrikaans: wild
- Berbice Creole Dutch: weldri
- Jersey Dutch: wäld
- Negerhollands: wild, weeld, welt, willit, wil
Noun edit
wild n (uncountable)
- game (food; animals hunted for meat)
- wildlife
- wilderness
Derived terms edit
Descendants edit
- Afrikaans: wild
Anagrams edit
German edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Middle High German wilde, from Old High German wildi, from Proto-West Germanic *wilþī, from Proto-Germanic *wilþijaz.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
wild (strong nominative masculine singular wilder, comparative wilder, superlative am wildesten)
Declension edit
number & gender | singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | |||
predicative | er ist wild | sie ist wild | es ist wild | sie sind wild | |
strong declension (without article) |
nominative | wilder | wilde | wildes | wilde |
genitive | wilden | wilder | wilden | wilder | |
dative | wildem | wilder | wildem | wilden | |
accusative | wilden | wilde | wildes | wilde | |
weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der wilde | die wilde | das wilde | die wilden |
genitive | des wilden | der wilden | des wilden | der wilden | |
dative | dem wilden | der wilden | dem wilden | den wilden | |
accusative | den wilden | die wilde | das wilde | die wilden | |
mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein wilder | eine wilde | ein wildes | (keine) wilden |
genitive | eines wilden | einer wilden | eines wilden | (keiner) wilden | |
dative | einem wilden | einer wilden | einem wilden | (keinen) wilden | |
accusative | einen wilden | eine wilde | ein wildes | (keine) wilden |
number & gender | singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | |||
predicative | er ist wilder | sie ist wilder | es ist wilder | sie sind wilder | |
strong declension (without article) |
nominative | wilderer | wildere | wilderes | wildere |
genitive | wilderen | wilderer | wilderen | wilderer | |
dative | wilderem | wilderer | wilderem | wilderen | |
accusative | wilderen | wildere | wilderes | wildere | |
weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der wildere | die wildere | das wildere | die wilderen |
genitive | des wilderen | der wilderen | des wilderen | der wilderen | |
dative | dem wilderen | der wilderen | dem wilderen | den wilderen | |
accusative | den wilderen | die wildere | das wildere | die wilderen | |
mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein wilderer | eine wildere | ein wilderes | (keine) wilderen |
genitive | eines wilderen | einer wilderen | eines wilderen | (keiner) wilderen | |
dative | einem wilderen | einer wilderen | einem wilderen | (keinen) wilderen | |
accusative | einen wilderen | eine wildere | ein wilderes | (keine) wilderen |
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
- “wild” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
- “wild” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.
- “wild” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “wild” in Duden online
Hunsrik edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Old High German wildi.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
wild (comparative wilder, superlative wildest)
Declension edit
Declension of wild (see also Appendix:Hunsrik adjectives) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | plural | ||
Weak inflection | nominative | wild | wild | wild | wilde |
accusative | wilde | wild | wild | wilde | |
dative | wilde | wilde | wilde | wilde | |
Strong inflection | nominative | wilder | wilde | wildes | wilde |
accusative | wilde | wilde | wildes | wilde | |
dative | wildem | wilder | wildem | wilde |
Further reading edit
Low German edit
Etymology edit
From Middle Low German wilde, from Old Saxon wildi, from Proto-West Germanic *wilþī, from Proto-Germanic *wilþijaz.
Compare English, Dutch and German wild, West Frisian wyld, Danish vild.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
wild (comparative willer, superlative willst)
Declension edit
gender | singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | all genders | ||
predicative | he is wild | se is wild | dat is wild | se sünd wild | |
partitive | een Wills | een Wills | wat Wills | allens Will | |
strong declension (without article) |
nominative | wille | wille | wild | wille |
oblique | willen | wille | wild | wille | |
weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | de wille | de wille | dat wille | de willen |
oblique | den willen | de wille | dat wille | de willen | |
mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | en wille/willen | en wille | en wild/willet | (keen) willen |
oblique | en willen | en wille | en wild/willet | (keen) willen |
gender | singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | all genders | ||
predicative | he is willer | se is willer | dat is willer | se sünd willer | |
partitive | een willers | een willers | wat willers | allens willer | |
strong declension (without article) |
nominative | willere | willere | willer | willere |
oblique | willern | willere | willer | willere | |
weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | de willere | de willere | dat willere | de willern |
oblique | den willern | de willere | dat willere | de willern | |
mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | en willere/willeren | en willere | en willer | (keen) willern |
oblique | en willern | en willere | en willer | (keen) willern |
gender | singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | all genders | ||
predicative | he is de Willste | se is de Willste | dat is dat Willste | se sünd de Willsten | |
strong declension (without article) |
nominative | willste | willste | willst | willste |
oblique | willsten | willste | willst | willste | |
weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | de willste | de willste | dat willste | de willsten |
oblique | den willsten | de willste | dat willste | de willsten | |
mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | en willste/willsten | en willste | en willst | (keen) willsten |
oblique | en willsten | en willste | en willst | (keen) willsten |
Note: This declension is one of many; neither its grammar nor spelling apply to all dialects. |
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Maltese edit
Root |
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w-l-d |
11 terms |
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
wild m (plural ulied)