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-wise

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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See also: wise, Wise, and WISE

English

Etymology

From Middle English -wis, from Old English -wīs (-wise), from Proto-West Germanic *-wīs, from Proto-Germanic *-wīsaz, from Proto-Germanic *wīsaz (wise, skilled, knowledgeable), related to Old English wīs, wīse (manner, way, fashion). Cognate with Saterland Frisian -wiese, Dutch -wijs, German -weise, Danish -vis, Swedish -vis, Norwegian Bokmål -vis, and Yiddish ־ווײַז (-vayz, -wise). More at wise (way, manner).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /waɪz/
    • Audio (US):(file)

Suffix

-wise

  1. In the direction or orientation of.
    The gaoler slowly turned the key clockwise.
  2. In the manner of.
    You need to follow the instructions carefully; otherwise, the project may not turn out.
    Contrariwise, it could be a good idea.
  3. In the matter of; with regard to.
    This morning looks promising, weather-wise.
    • 1919, Saki, “The Penance”, in The Toys of Peace, page 423:
      They had parents in India—that much Octavian had learned in the neighbourhood; the children, beyond grouping themselves garment-wise into sexes, a girl and two boys, carried their life-story no further on his behoof.
    • 1958, “Come Fly With Me”, performed by Frank Sinatra:
      Weather-wise, it's such a lovely day
    • 2011 September 1, Harry Pearson, “London 2012 can legacy by verbing the noun”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 22 September 2024:
      Vocab-wise, medalling and PB-ing are now totally part-and-parcelled, and most experts in South Korea believe podiumed, finalled and all-comered are not far off lexiconing.
    • 2015 July 22, Brian Caulfield, “The reality is that there is no incentive tax-wise for Irish entrepreneurs”, in Irish Independent, archived from the original on 29 May 2023:
      [see title]
    • 2015 August 10, Dheeraj Sharma, “Stereotypicality in Indian cinema is not a healthy trend”, in Hindustan Times, archived from the original on 8 July 2018:
      Finally, we presented the religion-wise and caste-wise description presented in Bollywood films to 150 school students. It was found that 94% felt that stereotypical representations were authentic.
  4. One at a time, or one thing at a time.
    Add the reagent dropwise to the solution.

Usage notes

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

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Old English

Etymology

From wīse (manner, way, condition, direction).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˌwiː.se/, [ˌwiː.ze]

Suffix

-wīse

  1. (noun suffix) state of, manner of, condition; direction
    riht (just, right) + -wīserihtwīse (righteousness, justice)
    cniht (boy, youth) + -wīsecnihtwīse (boyishness)
    cyne- (public, nation, kindred) + -wīsecynewīse (commonwealth, state)
    lēoþ (song, tune, poem) + -wīselēoþwīse (poetry, verse)
    bēag (ring, hoop, circle) + -wīsebēagwīse (sphere, circular form)
  2. (noun suffix) the custom or fashion of
    mynster (minister) + -wīsemynsterwīse (monastic custom)
    fierd (militia) + -wīsefierdwīse (military style)
  3. (adverbial suffix) in the manner or fashion of; in the direction of
    hyse (son, youth) + -wīsehysewīse (like a young man)

Declension

Weak n-stem:

More information singular, plural ...
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