Wantounesse

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Sexually loose or unrestrained conduct, often considered immoral ; reckless excess or cruelty carried out without regard for consequences ; a playful or capricious willfulness that ignores normal restraint
2. Lewd, lascivious behavior that flouts moral standards ; a disregard for restraint shown through needless excess or deliberate harm ; a whimsical, willful quality that acts without reason or caution
3. Unchecked lustful conduct that breaks social propriety ; senseless extravagance or savagery pursued with no thought of the fallout ; a frolicsome, unpredictable streak that rejects sensible limits

Etymology: Its earliest sense had nothing to do with sex. "Wanton" entered Middle English as "wantowen," built from "wan-," meaning "lacking," and "towen," an old past participle of a verb meaning "to train or discipline." A wanton was therefore someone untrained and ungoverned, and the word could describe a headstrong child or an unbroken horse as easily as a reckless adult. The sexual sense grew out of that general idea of unchecked self-indulgence. Medieval writers spelled the noun in forms such as "wantounesse," with the older "-oun-" ending, before the modern spelling of "wantonness" became standard. The shift from undisciplined in general to lewd in particular happened gradually, so the modern meaning carries the older sense of having no restraint.