wonder
/ˈwɐndə/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.93 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A sense of awe, astonishment and curiosity, inspired by unexpected events, novel experiences and inexplicable circumstances, sometimes accompanied by surprise, shock or reverence.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "And they knew that it was hee which ſate for almes at the beautifull gate of the Temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened vnto him."
- "All wonder is the effect of novelty upon ignorance."
- "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)."
- "Stuff your eyes with wonder […]live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories."
- "Wonders of the World seem to come in sevens."
- "That concertina was a wonder in its way. The handles that was on it first was wore out long ago, and he'd made new ones of braided rope yarn. And the bellows was patched in more places than a cranberry picker's overalls."
Etymology
From Middle English wonder, wunder, from Old English wundor (“wonder, miracle, marvel”), from Proto-West Germanic *wundr, from Proto-Germanic *wundrą. 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 Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish under (“wonder, miracle”), Faroese and Icelandic undur (“wonder”). The verb is from Middle English wondren, from Old English wundrian, which is from Proto-Germanic *wundrōną. Cognate with Saterland Frisian wunnerje, West Frisian wûnderje, Dutch wonderen, German Low German wunnern, German wundern, Swedish undra, Icelandic undra. Via PIE cognate with English wish (see more).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *wenh₁-, wonder, wundor, *wundr, *wundrą, wondren
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈwɐndə/
- British English: /ˈwʌndə/
Usage
- Uncountable
- Countable
- Colloquial
- British usage
- Informal
- American usage
- Intransitive verb
- Transitive verb
Inflected Forms
wonders (plural)
wonda (alternative, pronunciation spelling)
wondre (alternative, obsolete)
wonders (present, singular)
wondering (participle, present)
wondered (participle, past)
wondered (past)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
wondered (first person, past)
wonderest (archaic, present)
wondered (past, second person)
Derived Forms
1der
wonderbeast
wonderberry
wonderbird
wonderbook
wonderboy
wonderbra
wonderchild
wonderdog
wonderdrug
wonderfool
wonderfuck