Wisdom

Forms: 1– wisdom; 3 (Orm.) wissdom, (wistom), 3–5 wysdom, wisdam, 3–7 wisedom, wisdome, 4 wisdame, (wijsdam), 4–6 wysdome, (Sc. visdome), 4–7 wisedome, 5 wisedam, wysdam(e, wysedom, (wijsdom, wysedomme, wiesdom, vysdome, whysdom), 5–6 wysedome, (6 wisdoume, -dum(e, wisz-, wyszdome, 7 Sc. wosdome). [OE. wísdóm = OFris., OS. wîsdôm, MDu. wijsdom, OHG., MHG. wîstuom (G. weistum legal sentence, precedent), ON. vîsdómr (Sw., Da. visdom): see WISE a. and -DOM.] The quality or character of being wise, or something in which this is exhibited.

  1.  Capacity of judging rightly in matters relating to life and conduct; soundness of judgment in the choice of means and ends; sometimes, less strictly, sound sense, esp. in practical affairs: opp. to folly.

Beowulf, 1959. Offa wæs … wide ʓeweorðod, wisdome heold eðel sinne.

c. 1000.  Inst. Polity, ii. in Thorpe, Laws, II. 306. Ðurh cynincges wisdom folc wyrð ʓesæliʓ, ʓesundful, & siʓefæst.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 123. Þet wit and þene wisdom þe ure drihten us sende.

  c. 1200.  Ormin, 8974. Hire sune wex & þraf i wissdom & inn elde.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 6. He mai þe vttre riwle chaungen, efter wisdom.

a. 1225.  Leg. Kath., 485. Ichulle fordon þe wisdom of þeos wise worldmen.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 8857. Godd ne had him sli wisdom Giuen, als he gaf salamon.

1340–70.  Alex. & Dind., 102. Ȝif god sente euery gome … Wordliche wisdam & wittus iliche.

a. 1375.  Cato, 409, in Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS., 587. Forþure þi wille wiþ wisdam.

c. 1400.  26 Pol. Poems, x. 21. At þe tre of wysdom, foly þou souȝt.

1450–1530.  Myrr. Our Ladye, II. 183. The mooste wyse wysdome of god.

1513.  More, Edw. V., in Hall, Chron., Edw. V. (1548), 2 b. Yf grace turne hym to wisedome.

1535.  Coverdale, Prov. ix. 10. The feare of the Lorde is the begynnynge of wysdome.

1563.  Homilies, Rogation Wk., III. Rrrr j. Thys wisdome can not be atteyned, but by the direction of the spirite of God, and therefore it is called spirituall wisdome.

1594.  Shaks., Rich. III., III. vii. 16. Your Discipline in Warre, Wisdome in Peace.

1597.  Hooker, Eccl. Pol., V. lvi. § 5. That which moueth God to worke is goodnes, and that which ordereth his worke is wisedome.

1633.  G. Herbert, Temple, Providence, xvi. Each creature hath a wisdome for his good.

1640.  Wilkins, Disc. New Planet, ix. 204. Wee allow every Watch-maker so much wisdome as not to put any motion in his Instrument, which is superfluous.

a. 1708.  Beveridge, Thes. Theol. (1711), III. 28. By wisdom, I mean that attribute in God, whereby He orders and manages whatsoever He takes in hand, by the best means, in the best manner and to the best end.

1784.  Cowper, Task, VI. 88. Knowledge and Wisdom, far from being one, Have ofttimes no connexion.

1875.  Manning, Mission Holy Ghost, xiv. 385. Illumination of the intellect, together with charity inflaming the heart, constitute the gift of wisdom.

  b.  personified (almost always as feminine).

c. 888.  K. Ælfred, Boeth., iii. § 1. Þa com þær gan in to me heofencund Wisdom.

c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Matt. xi. 19. Wisdom ys ʓerihtwisud fram heora bearnum.

1362.  Langl., P. Pl., A. IV. 87. He haþ waget me a-mendes as wisdam him tauhte.

1535.  Coverdale, Prov. viii. 1. Doth not wysdome crie? doth not vnderstondinge put forth hir voyce?

1597.  Hooker, Eccl. Pol., V. viii. § 1. To prescribe the order of doing … is a peculiar prerogatiue which Wisedome hath, as Queene or soueraigne commandresse ouer other vertues.

1611.  Bible, Transl. Pref., ¶ 4. Loue the Scriptures, and wisedome will loue thee.

1742.  Gray, Adversity, 25. Wisdom in sable garb array’d Immers’d in rapt’rous thought profound.

1784.  Cowper, Task, VI. 97. Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much, Wisdom is humble that he knows no more.

1792.  Wordsw., ‘I grieved for Buonaparté’, 9. Wisdom doth live with children round her knees.

1850.  Tennyson, In Mem., CXIV. 22. For she [sc. Knowledge] is earthly of the mind, But Wisdom heavenly of the soul.

  c.  as one of the manifestations of the divine nature in Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Cor. i. 24, 30, etc.); hence used as a title of the second person of the Trinity (the Wisdom of the Father); also occas. applied to God or the Trinity.

c. 888.  Ælfred, Boeth., xli. § 4. Se wisdom mæʓ us eallunga onʓitan swylce swylce we sint … forðæm se wisdom is God.

a. 1175.  Cott. Hom., 219. Þurh his wisdom (se sune) heo ȝeworhte alle þing.

a. 1200.  Vices & Virtues, 25. Ðe sune of ðe fader akenned, al swa his wisedom.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 26. Almihti God, Feder, & Sune, & soðfest Holi Gost, also ȝe þreo beoð o God, & o mihte, o wisdom, & o luue.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 9730. Þat þi wisdom man clepes me.

1402.  Jacke Upland, in Pol. Poems (Rolls), II. 36. Christ, that is the wisedome of God the Father.

1587.  Golding, De Mornay, v. (1592), 53. We call him also the wisedome of the Father, yea, and euen meerely and simply wisedome.

1833.  J. H. Newman, Arians, II. iii. (1876), 169. It would appear that our Lord is called the Word or Wisdom in two respects; first, to denote His essential presence in the Father…: secondly, His mediatorship.

1855.  Lynch, Lett. to Scattered, ii. (1872), 32. Wisdom is alive: it is not a thing or quality. It is God. It is God and Man, for it is Christ.

  d.  Contextually, usually predicative with following inf.: = a wise thing to do; also with a and pl., a piece of wisdom; a wise action or proceeding. (Opp. to FOLLY sb.¹ 1 c.) arch.

1362.  Langl., P. Pl., A. VII. 201. Here nou … and holde hit for wisdam.

c. 1420.  Hoccleve, Min. Poems, xxiv. 215. Is it wysdam as þat it seemeth yow, Were it on your fyngir continuelly?

1482.  Cely Papers (Camden), 87. Hyt wylbe whysdom to be sewyr of mo.

1593.  Shaks., 3 Hen. VI., IV. vii. 60. Till then, ’tis wisdome to conceale our meaning.

a. 1628.  F. Grevil, Sidney (1652), 2. Had I grounded my ends upon active Wisedomes of the present.

1764.  Priestley, Lect. Hist., Ess. Educ. (1788), p. xv. It is certainly our wisdom to contrive that the studies of youth should tend to fit them for the business of manhood.

1831.  Scott, Ct. Robt., xviii. It is wisdom to choose a better protector.

1884.  Helen Jackson, Ramona, i. If she had ever said anything about herself, which she never did—one of her many wisdoms.

  e.  pl. as attribute of a number of persons; hence, with possessive, as a title of dignity or respect, esp. for the members of a deliberative assembly; also jocularly or ironically. Similarly, without possessive, as in the best wisdoms = the wisest men.

1432.  Rolls of Parlt., IV. 403/2. To the right wyse and discrete Commens of this present Parlement…. Please hit unto youre worthy and noble wisdoms and discretions [etc.].

1447–8.  Shillingford’s Lett. (Camden), 108. As hit appereth of recorde the which they remytte to your wysedomys.

1536.  Cromwell, in Merriman, Life & Lett. (1902), II. 2. As by your wisedomes ye shall thinke may best serue for the kinges highnes purpose.

1587.  D. Fenner, Def. Ministers, 60. It may please their wisedomes, who are to be Iudges, to consider.

1619.  J. Denison, Heav. Banquet, etc., 317. I will leaue that to their wisedomes who haue place of gouernment.

1631.  Markham, Country Contentm., I. xix. (ed. 4), 103. Many of the best wisedomes of our Nation.

1794.  Wolcot (P. Pindar), Ode to Tyrants, Wks. 1812, III. 253. Even Folly … freely on your Wisdoms cracks her jokes.

  (b)  Less commonly in sing. of a single person.

1447–8.  Shillingford’s Lett. (Camden), 42. Not likely by that mene to be ended lightly, as your wysedom knowyth well.

1598.  Hakluyt, Voy., Ep. Ded. ¶ 3. The chiefe motiues which induced his princely wisedome hereunto.

1612.  J. Cotta, Disc. Dang. Pract. Phys., I. ix. 72. The parents … sent for a wisewoman, & her wisedome came vnto them.

a. 1652.  A. Wilson, in Peck, Desid. Curiosa (1735), II. XII. 24. The Maior’s Wisdom said, hee knew not my Lord’s Hand.

1831.  Scott, Ct. Robt., viii. Can your wisdom possibly entertain a wish to converse with me?

  2.  Knowledge (esp. of a high or abstruse kind); enlightenment, learning, erudition; in early use often = philosophy, science. † Also, practical knowledge or understanding, expertness in an art. Now only Hist.

c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., Luke xi. 52. Tulistis clauem scientiae, ʓie nomon cæʓo wisdomes.

1382.  Wyclif, 1 Cor. ii. 13. Not in tauȝt wordis of mannis wysdom, but in doctryne of the spirit.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Prol., 575. The wisdom of an heepe of lerned men Of maistres hadde he mo than thries ten.

1460–70.  Bk. Quinte Essence, 1. Þe wijsdom and þe science of þis book schulde … be … preserued.

1526.  Tindale, Acts vii. 22. Moses was learned in all manner off wisdom of the Egipcians.

1557.  in Lodge, Illustr. Brit. Hist. (1791), I. 276. The Quene’s Ma^tle, knowing the wysdome and skyll of John Brende, Esquier, in the leading and ordering of footemen.

1662.  J. Chandler, Van Helmont’s Oriat., 163. This … was Zoosophie or the wisdom of keeping living Creatures together.

1770.  Langhorne, Plutarch (1879), I. 130/1. What was then called wisdom, which consisted in a knowledge of the arts of government, and the practical part of political prudence.

1875.  Lightfoot, Comm. Coloss., 99. ‘Wisdom’ in Gnostic teaching was the exclusive possession of the few.

  b.  pl. Kinds of learning, branches of knowledge. rare.

c. 888.  Ælfred, Boeth., vii. § 3. Mine þeowas sindon wisdomas & cræftas & soðe welan.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 8482. Of all wisdoms [Solomon] had i-nogh.

1853.  F. W. Faber, All for Jesus (1854), 130. The Corinthians could not come near us in the variety of our wisdoms and our gifts.

  c.  In renderings of med.L. names of substances prepared or used by the alchemists, as lute of wisdom (see LUTE sb.² 1), salt of wisdom = ALEMBROTH. (Cf. PHILOSOPHER 4, 5 b, PHILOSOPHICAL 4.)

1460–70.  [see LUTE sb.² 1].

1576.  Baker, Gesner’s Jewell of Health, 37. The Lute of Wysedome, which resisteth the fire marveylously.

1800.  trans. Lagrange’s Chem., II. 23. Alembroth, Salt of the Art, Salt of Wisdom.

  3.  Wise discourse or teaching; with a and pl., a wise saying or precept. Now rare or arch.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 125. Imong ban muchela wisdoma þe ure drihten lerde his apostles.

c. 1205.  Lay., 25628. Ælc bi his witte wisdom sæiden.

c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 462. On two tables of tiȝel and bras Wrot he ðat wistom.

1303.  R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 1179. Anoþer wysdom a clerk vs telleþ.

c. 1400.  Lydg., Chorle & Bird, 274, Min. Poems (Percy Soc.), 189. To here a wisdom thyn eres been half deef.

1493.  [H. Parker], Dives & Pauper (1496), IX. iv. 350/2. I shall teche the thre wysedomes whiche yf thou kepe them well they shall do the moche proufyte.

1531.  Elyot, Gov., III. xxv. In his fables the foxe, the hare, and the wolfe, though they neuer spoke, do teache many good wysedomes.

1860.  Sala, Baddington Peerage, I. vii. 127. Listen then, to the wisdom of Pollybank.

  b.  In the titles of two books of the Apocrypha, viz. The Wisdom of Solomon (often abbrev. Wisdom or The Book of Wisdom), and The Wisdom of Jesus the son of Sirach (commonly called Ecclesiasticus). Cf. also Wisdom literature, etc., in 5.

1430–40.  Wycliffite Bible, Wisd. (heading), Heer gynneth the prolog in the booc of Wisdam.

1611.  Bible (title), The Wisedome of Solomon. Ibid. (title), The Wisdome of Iesus the sonne of Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus.

1875.  Plumptre, in Expositor, I. 336. Those [words] which are found in Philo and in the Epistle, but not in Wisdom.

1912.  E. C. Selwyn, Oracles N. T., iii. 78. The fact that Wisdom also contains an anticipation of one of the three Temptations of Christ.

  † 4.  Sanity, ‘reason.’ (Cf. WISE a. 4.) Obs. rare.

1603.  Shaks., Meas. for M., IV. iv. 5. Pray heauen his wisedome bee not tainted.

  5.  Comb. a. attrib., as wisdom-book, -lecture, etc.; Wisdom literature, a collective term for the biblical books of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Wisdom of Solomon, and Ecclesiasticus, and the Epistle of James; so Wisdom books, poetry, versification. (See also WISDOM TOOTH.) b. instrumental, objective, etc., as wisdom-bred, -giving, -seasoned, -seeming, -working adjs.

c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 187. Or þe strengðe þe ure drihten us to munegeð specð *wisdom boc and seið, Fortitudo simplicis uia domini.

1887.  Cheyne, Job & Solomon, 180. The Wisdom-books of the Old Testament proper.

1832.  Tennyson, Œnone, 121. Power…; *wisdom-bred And throned of wisdom.

1667.  Milton, P. L., IX. 679. O Sacred, Wise, and *Wisdom-giving Plant, Mother of Science.

a. 1644.  Quarles, Sol. Recant., ch. xii. 9. Because his true repentant soul was wise, He read this *wisdome-lecture.

1887.  Cheyne, Job & Solomon, 180. The book now before us—the largest and most comprehensive in the *Wisdom-literature.

1809–10.  Coleridge, Friend (1818), III. 112. The title of sophist,… a *wisdom-monger, in the same sense as we say, an iron-monger.

1895.  R. C. Moulton, Proverbs, 169. The metres of *Wisdom poetry.

a. 1644.  Quarles, Sol. Recant., Sol. xi. 1. Thy *wisdome-seasoned brest.

1826.  E. Irving, Babylon, I. II. 74. I am not disposed to fold up my hands in a *wisdom-seeming ignorance.

1816.  Shelley, Sunset, 36. To make hard hearts Dissolve away in *wisdom-working grief.

  Hence Wisdomful a., full of wisdom; † Wisdomhood, wisdom; Wisdomless a., destitute of wisdom; † Wisdomness, (a) contained wisdom, wise signification or implication; (b) affected or spurious wisdom; Wisdomship, (with possessive) as a title of (ironical) respect (cf. 1 e).

1845.  Blackw. Mag., Feb., 156/2. Its wondrous *wisdomful speech.

c. 1380.  Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 99. As Seynt Poul seyþ, In him beþ alle tresoures of kunnyng and or *wysdomhud.

1608.  Machin, Dumb Knt., IV. i. I am mad,… all wit-stung, *wisdomlesse.

1589.  Marprel. Epit. (1843), 21. It is a hard matter … to conceiue all the *wisdomnes of this syllogisme.

1668.  E. Kemp, Reas. Use Ch. Prayers in Publick, 14. So impertinent a piece of gravity, so unseasonable a piece of wisdomness.

1692.  Vindication, Pref. A 2. Their cool *Wisdomships can be as Hot as their Neighbours in their own Concerns.