different between curiosity vs wonder

English

Etymology

From Middle English curiosite, variant of curiouste, from Anglo-Norman curiouseté, from Latin c?ri?sit?tem, from c?ri?sus. Surface analysis curious +? -ity; see -osity.

Pronunciation

• enPR: kyoo?r"??s'?t?, IPA^(key): /?kj??????s?ti/

Noun

curiosity (countable and uncountable, plural curiosities)

1. (uncountable) Inquisitiveness; the tendency to ask and learn about things by asking questions, investigating, or exploring. [from 17th c.]

   Synonym: inquisitiveness

   Antonym: ignorance

   • 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

     It was the first time that the lawyer had been received in that part of his friend's quarters; and he eyed the dingy, windowless structure with curiosity, and gazed round with a distasteful sense of strangeness as he crossed the theatre
2. A unique or extraordinary object which arouses interest. [from 17th c.]

3. (obsolete) Careful, delicate construction; fine workmanship, delicacy of building. [16th-19th c.]
   • 1631, John Smith, Advertisements, in Kupperman 1988, p. 81:

     wee built a homely thing like a barne, set upon Cratchets, covered with rafts, sedge, and earth, so also was the walls; the best of our houses of the like curiosity, but the most part farre much worse workmanship […]

Derived terms

• curiosity killed the cat

Related terms

• curious

Translations

References

English

Etymology

From Middle English wonder, wunder, from Old English wundor (“wonder, miracle, marvel”), from Proto-Germanic *wundr?. Cognate with Scots wunner (“wonder”), West Frisian wonder, wûnder (“wonder, miracle”), Dutch wonder (“miracle, wonder”), Low German wunner, wunder (“wonder”), German Wunder (“miracle, wonder”), Danish, Norwegian and Swedish under (“wonder, miracle”), Icelandic undur (“wonder”).

The verb is from Middle English wondren, from Old English wundrian, which is from Proto-Germanic *wundr?n?. Cognate with Saterland Frisian wunnerje, West Frisian wûnderje, Dutch wonderen, German Low German wunnern, German wundern, Swedish undra, Icelandic undra.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?w?nd?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?w?nd?/
• Rhymes: -?nd?(?)
• Hyphenation: won?der

Noun

wonder (countable and uncountable, plural wonders)

1. Something that causes amazement or awe; a marvel.
2. Something astonishing and seemingly inexplicable.

3. Someone very talented at something, a genius.

4. The sense or emotion which can be inspired by something curious or unknown; surprise; astonishment, often with awe or reverence.
   • 1781, Samuel Johnson, The Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets

     All wonder is the effect of novelty upon ignorance.

   • 1871, Plato, Benjamin Jowett (translator), Theaetetus (section 155d)

     Socrates: I see, my dear Theaetetus, that Theodorus had a true insight into your nature when he said that you were a philosopher, for wonder is the feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder. He was not a bad genealogist who said that Iris (the messenger of heaven) is the child of Thaumas (wonder).

5. (Britain, informal) A mental pondering, a thought.
6. (US) A kind of donut; a cruller.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

wonder (third-person singular simple present wonders, present participle wondering, simple past and past participle wondered)

1. (intransitive) To be affected with surprise or admiration; to be struck with astonishment; to be amazed; to marvel; often followed by at.
   • October 8, 1751, Samuel Johnson, The Rambler No. 163

     Some had read the manuscript, and rectified its inaccuracies; others had seen it in a state so imperfect, that the could not forbear to wonder at its present excellence.
2. (transitive, intransitive) To ponder; to feel doubt and curiosity; to query in the mind.

Conjugation

Derived terms

• bewonder
• forwonder
• unwonder
• wonderer

Synonyms

• thauma

Translations

Anagrams

• Nedrow, Rowden, Worden, downer, red won, wondre

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch wonder, wunder, from Old Dutch wundar, from Proto-Germanic *wundr?, from Proto-Indo-European *wenh?- (“to wish for, desire, strive for, win, love”). Compare Low German wunder, wunner, German Wunder, West Frisian wonder, wûnder, English wonder, Danish under.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???n.d?r/
• Hyphenation: won?der
• Rhymes: -?nd?r

Noun

wonder n (plural wonderen, diminutive wondertje n)

1. wonder, miracle

Synonyms

• mirakel

Derived terms

• wonderteken
• wonderlijk

Anagrams

• worden