wise
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wise¹
- /waɪz/
Sounds like whys, wyes, Ys, why's · Rhymes with -aɪz
Where it comes from
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.
adjective wiser · more wise · wisest · most wise · wize
-
Showing good judgement or the benefit of experience.
Storing extra food for the winter was a wise decision.
Similar: hot · Opposite: improvident
- Disrespectful. Don't get wise with me!
- Aware, informed (to something). Be careful: the boss is wise to your plan to call out sick.
Similar: astute, clairvoyant, deep, frood, grounded, judicious, oracular, perspicacious, politic, profound, prudent, quick-witted, reasonable, sagacious, sage, sapient, sensible, wise, witful · Opposite: unwise, foolish
verb wises · wising · wised · wize
- To become wise.
- Usually with "up", to inform or learn. Mo wised him up about his situation.
wise²
- /waɪz/
Sounds like whys, wyes, Ys, why's · Rhymes with -aɪz
Where it comes from
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.
noun wises
- Way, manner, or method. In such wise that all the beasts, great and small, came to the court save Reynard the Fox.
wise³
- /waɪz/
Sounds like whys, wyes, Ys, why's · Rhymes with -aɪz
Where it comes from
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”).
verb wises · wising · wised
- To instruct.
- To advise; induce.
- To show the way, guide.
- To direct the course of, pilot.
- To cause to turn.
Wise⁴
- /waɪz/
proper noun
- A surname.
- A township in Isabella County, Michigan, United States.
- An unincorporated community in Warren County, North Carolina, United States.
- A town, the county seat of Wise County, Virginia, United States.
WISE⁵
noun WISEs
proper noun
- Acronym of Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (“a NASA infrared-wavelength astronomical space telescope that performed an all-sky astronomical survey with images in 3-22 μm wavelength bands”).
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: well-advised, sensible, prudent, judicious, considered, knowing, sagacious, advised, informed, sapient, sage, perspicacious, method, all-knowing, omniscient, statesmanly
Translations
Every language
adj showing good judgement
| Español | sabio, juicioso, sapiente |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 현명하다 hyeonmyeonghada, 명철하다 myeongcheolhada, 지혜롭다 jihyeropda, 슬기롭다 seulgiropda |
| 日本語 | 賢い kashikoi, 賢明な kenmei na |
| 中文 | 明智 míngzhì, 英明 yīngmíng, 高明 gāomíng, 聰明 /聪明 cōngming |
| हिन्दी | बुद्धिमान buddhimān, सयाना sayānā |
| Kiswahili | -staarabu |
| Português | sábio, sensato |
| Français | sage |
| Deutsch | weise, klug |
| Italiano | saggio |
| Ελληνικά | σοφός sofós |
| Română | cu scaun la cap, înțelept |
| Русский | му́дрый múdryj, у́мный úmnyj, разу́мный razúmnyj |
| Tiếng Việt | khôn |
| العربية | حَكِيم ḥakīm, فَطِن faṭin, فَطُن faṭun, عَاقِل ʕāqil |
| עברית | חָכָם khakhám |
Talk about this word "wise." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/wise. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. wise. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/wise "wise." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/wise.Cite this
@misc{wise_2026,
title = {wise},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/wise},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}