different between wanton vs wild

English

Etymology

From Middle English wantoun, wantowen, wanto?en, wantowe (“uneducated; unrestrained; licentious; sportive; playful”), from wan- (“not, un-, mis-”) + towen, i-towen (“educated”, literally “towed; led; drawn”), from Old English togen, ?etogen, past participle of t?on (“to train, discipline”), equivalent to wan- +? towed.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?w?nt?n/
• (US) enPR: wän't?n, IPA^(key): /?w?nt?n/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /?w?nt?n/, /?w?nt?n/
• Rhymes: -?nt?n
• Homophone: wonton (some accents)

Adjective

wanton (comparative wantoner, superlative wantonest)

1. (archaic) Undisciplined, unruly; not able to be controlled.
   • 1605, William Shakespeare, King Lear, IV.1:

     As Flies to wanton Boyes are we to th' Gods, / They kill us for their sport.

   • 1785, William Cowper, “The Garden”, in The Task, a Poem, in Six Books. By William Cowper [...] To which are Added, by the Same Author, An Epistle to Joseph Hill, Esq. Tirocinium, or a Review of Schools, and The History of John Gilpin, London: Printed for J[oseph] Johnson, No. 72 St. Paul's Church-Yard, OCLC 221351486; republished as The Task. A Poem. In Six Books. To which is Added, Tirocinium: or, A Review of Schools, new edition, Philadelphia, Pa.: Printed for Thomas Dobson, bookseller, in Second-street, second door above Chestnut-street, 1787, OCLC 23630717, page 87:

     'Tis the cruel gripe, / That lean hard-handed poverty inflicts, / The hope of better things, the chance to win, / The wi?h to ?hine, the thir?t to be amus'd, / That at the found of Winter's hoary wing, / Unpeople all our counties, of ?uch herds, / Of flutt'ring, loit'ring, cringing, begging, loo?e, / And wanton vagrants, as make London, va?t / And boundless as it is, a crowded coop.

2. (obsolete) Playful, sportive; merry or carefree.
   • 1776, Edward Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 1:

     The grave simplicity of the philosopher was ill calculated to engage her wanton levity, or to fix that unbounded passion for variety, which often discovered personal merit in the meanest of mankind.

3. Lewd, immoral; sexually open, unchaste.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones:

     if wenches will hang out lures for fellows, it is no matter what they suffer: I detest such creatures; and it would be much better for them that their faces had been seamed with the smallpox: but I must confess I never saw any of this wanton behaviour in poor Jenny [...].

   • 1874, Thomas Hardy, Far From the Madding Crowd:

     I know I ought never to have dreamt of sending that valentine—forgive me, sir—it was a wanton thing which no woman with any self-respect should have done.

   • 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.21:

     People should not marry too young, because, if they do, the children will be weak and female, the wives will become wanton, and the husbands stunted in their growth.

4. Capricious, reckless of morality, justice etc.; acting without regard for the law or the well-being of others; gratuitous.
   • 1811, Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility:

     Edward himself, now thoroughly enlightened on her character, had no scruple in believing her capable of the utmost meanness of wanton ill-nature.

   • 2009, Ben White, The Guardian, 10 Aug 2009:

     these developments in Gaza are a consequence of the state of siege that the tiny territory has been under – a society that has been fenced-in, starved, and seen its very fabric torn apart by unemployment and wanton military destruction.

5. (archaic) Extravagant, unrestrained, excessive.
   • 1776, Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, Book I:

     the market price will rise more or less above the natural price, according as either the greatness of the deficiency, or the wealth and wanton luxury of the competitors, happen to animate more or less the eagerness of the competition.

   • 1876, John Ruskin, Letters, 19 Jan 1876:

     But do not think it argues change of temper since I wrote the Frère review, or a wanton praise of one man and blame of another.

Synonyms

• (undisciplined): see Thesaurus:wanton
• (playful, overly happy): frolicsome, playful
• (lewd): lewd, lustful, unchaste
• (capriciously violent): inhumane, callous, merciless
• (luxuriant): extravagant, lavish, luxuriant, prodigal, unrestrained

Derived terms

• wanton kittens make sober cats

Translations

Noun

wanton (plural wantons)

1. A pampered or coddled person.
   • c. 1591-1595, William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

     I would have thee gone — / And yet no farther than a wanton's bird, / That lets it hop a little from her hand, / Like a poor prisoner in his twisted gyves, / And with a silken thread plucks it back again […]

2. An overly playful person; a trifler.

   • 1611, Ben Jonson, Oberon, the Faery Prince

     Peace, my wantons; he will do / More than you can aim unto.

   • 1898: Charles Dickens: A Critical Study by George Gissing

     This quiet remark serves to remind one, among other things that, Dickens was not without his reasons for a spirit of distrust towards religion by law established, as well as towards sundry other forms of religion--the spirit which, especially in his early career, was often misunderstood as hostility to religion in itself, a wanton mocking at sacred things.

3. A self-indulgent person, fond of excess.
4. (archaic) A lewd or immoral person, especially a prostitute.
   • 1891: Jerusalem: Its History and Hope by Mrs. Oliphant

     ...paints with tremendous force the adulteries of the two wantons Aholah and Aholibah, Israel and Judah, and their love of strangers...

   • 1936: Like the Phoenix by Anthony Bertram

     However, terrible as it may seem to the tall maiden sisters of J.P.'s in Queen Anne houses with walled vegetable gardens, this courtesan, strumpet, harlot, whore, punk, fille de joie, street-walker, this trollop, this trull, this baggage, this hussy, this drab, skit, rig, quean, mopsy, demirep, demimondaine, this wanton, this fornicatress, this doxy, this concubine, this frail sister, this poor Queenie—did actually solicit me, did actually say ‘coming home to-night, dearie’ and my soul was not blasted enough to call a policeman.

Translations

Verb

wanton (third-person singular simple present wantons, present participle wantoning, simple past and past participle wantoned)

1. (intransitive) To rove and ramble without restraint, rule, or limit; to revel; to play loosely; to frolic.
   • c. 1593, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, Prologue,^[1]

     […] We will fetch thee straight

     Adonis painted by a running brook,

     And Cytherea all in sedges hid,

     Which seem to move and wanton with her breath

     Even as the waving sedges play wi’ th’ wind.

   • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 5, lines 294-296,^[2]

     […] Nature here

     Wantond as in her prime, and plaid at will

     Her Virgin Fancies […]

   • c. 1820, Charles Lamb, “Christ’s Hospital, Five and Thirty Years Ago” in Essays of Elia, Paris: Baudry’s European Library, 1835, p. 15,^[3]

     How merrily we would sally into the fields; and strip under the first warmth of the sun; and wanton like young dace in the streams […]

   • 1927, Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse, London: Hogarth Press, 1930, Part 2, 9, p. 217,^[4]

     It might well be, said Mrs. McNab, wantoning on with her memories […]

2. (transitive) To waste or squander, especially in pleasure (most often with away).

   The young man wantoned away his inheritance.

   • 1660, Samuel Pepys, diary entry for 28 April, 1660, in Henry B. Wheatley (ed.), The Diary of Samuel Pepys, London: George Bell, 1905, Volume 8, p.290,^[5]

     […] with this money the King shall wanton away his time in pleasures […]

   • 1881, Christina Rossetti, Called to Be Saints, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, “St. Matthias, Apostle,” p. 153,^[6]

     […] Samson, having wantoned away his strength and paying the penalty […]

   • 1929, Witter Bynner and Jiang Kanghu (translators), “A Song of an Old General” in The Jade Mountain, New York: Vintage, 1972, p. 203,^[7]

     And never would he wanton his cause away with wine.

   • 1948, Digby George Gerahty (as Robert Standish), Elephant Walk, New York: Macmillan, 1949, Chapter 15, p. 214,^[8]

     If either of us felt the respect for George that you imply by your manner, you know perfectly well that we wouldn’t have wantoned away the day as we have.

3. (intransitive) To act wantonly; to be lewd or lascivious.
   • 1677, Hannah Woolley, The Compleat Servant-Maid, London: T. Passinger, p. 62,,^[9]

     Be loving and courteous to your fellow Servants, not gigling or idling out your time, or wantoning in the society of men […]

   • […] whole herds or flocks of other women securely, and scarce regarded, traverse the park, the play, the opera, and the assembly; and though, for the most part at least, they are at last devoured, yet for a long time do they wanton in liberty, without disturbance or controul.

Synonyms

• (to act wantonly): See Thesaurus:harlotize

Translations

Related terms

• wantonly
• wantonness
• wantonry

Anagrams

• Antwon

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: w?ld, IPA^(key): /wa?ld/
• Rhymes: -a?ld

Etymology 1

From Middle English wild, wilde, from Old English wilde, from Proto-West Germanic *wilþ?, from Proto-Germanic *wilþijaz, from Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“hair, wool, grass, ear (of corn), forest”).

Adjective

wild (comparative wilder, superlative wildest)

1. 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

2. From or relating to wild creatures.

4. Unrestrained or uninhibited.

5. Raucous, unruly, or licentious.

6. (electrical) Of unregulated and varying frequency.

7. Visibly and overtly anxious; frantic.

8. Furious; very angry.
9. Disheveled, tangled, or untidy.

10. Enthusiastic.

11. Inaccurate.

12. Exposed to the wind and sea; unsheltered.

13. (nautical) Hard to steer; said of a vessel.
14. (mathematics, of a knot) Not capable of being represented as a finite closed polygonal chain.

    Antonym: tame

15. (slang) Amazing, awesome, unbelievable.

16. Able to stand in for others, e.g. a card in games, or a text character in computer pattern matching.
    • 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.

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

wild (comparative more wild, superlative most wild)

1. Inaccurately; not on target.

Noun

wild (plural wilds)

1. The undomesticated state of a wild animal

2. (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.

Verb

wild (third-person singular simple present wilds, present participle wilding, simple past and past participle wilded)

1. (intransitive, slang) To commit random acts of assault, robbery, and rape in an urban setting, especially as a gang.
   • 1989, David E. Pitt, Jogger's Attackers Terrorized at Least 9 in 2 Hours, New York Times (April 22, 1989), 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.

Etymology 2

Noun

wild (plural wilds)

1. Alternative form of weald

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Middle Dutch wilt, from Dutch wild, from Old Dutch *wildi, from Proto-Germanic *wilþijaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /v?lt/

Adjective

wild (attributive wilde, comparative wilder, superlative wildste)

1. wild

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch wilt, from Old Dutch wildi, from Proto-West Germanic *wilþ?, from Proto-Germanic *wilþijaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??lt/
• Hyphenation: wild
• Rhymes: -?lt
• Homophone: wilt

Adjective

wild (comparative wilder, superlative wildst)

1. wild

Inflection

Derived terms

• wildebras
• wildplassen
• wildplukken
• wildvreemd

Descendants

• Afrikaans: wild

Noun

wild n (uncountable)

1. game (food; animals hunted for meat)
2. wildlife
3. wilderness

Derived terms

• jachtwild
• wildwissel

Descendants

• Afrikaans: wild

Anagrams

• lidw.

German

Etymology

From Middle High German wilde, from Old High German wildi, from Proto-West Germanic *wilþ?. Compare Dutch wild, English wild, Danish vild.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /v?lt/

Adjective

wild (comparative wilder, superlative am wildesten)

1. wild
2. (obsolete) strange

   Synonym: fremd

Declension

Derived terms

• halb so wild
• wilde Ehe
• wildern
• wildfremd
• Wildheit

Related terms

• Wildente, Wildfang, Wildgans, Wildhengst, Wildlachs, Wildschwein

Further reading

• “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

Etymology

From Central Franconian weld

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vilt/

Adjective

wild (comparative wilder, superlative wildest)

1. wild

Declension

Further reading

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary

Low German

Etymology

From Middle Low German wilde, from Old Saxon wildi, from Proto-West Germanic *wilþ?, from Proto-Germanic *wilþijaz.

Compare English, Dutch and German wild, West Frisian wyld, Danish vild.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /w?lt/

Adjective

wild (comparative willer, superlative willst)

1. wild

Declension

Maltese

Alternative forms

• weld

Etymology

From Arabic ?????? (walad).

Pronunciation

Noun

wild m (plural ulied)

1. offspring