Wilde

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Living or growing in nature without human cultivation or domestication ; characterized by unrestrained emotion or behavior ; made or done without careful aim or consideration
2. Existing in an untamed natural condition ; showing lack of inhibition or control ; characterized by recklessness or lack of precision
3. Found or thriving in the natural environment without human management ; expressing oneself with uninhibited intensity ; proceeding from guesswork rather than knowledge

Etymology: The spelling "wilde" is simply an older form of "wild", kept alive for centuries before English settled on the modern spelling. Its roots run back to Old English "wilde", which came from a Proto-West Germanic form "wilþī" and ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "hair; wool". The link is surprising: a wild creature was, at its root, one with a shaggy or unkempt coat, and the same ancient root produced words for wool and single hairs across many languages, from Latin "villus" (shaggy hair) to Russian "volos" (a single hair). The word is shared across the Germanic family, appearing in Dutch and German "wild", Swedish and Danish "vild", and Icelandic "villtur", which carried senses such as "lost" and "untamed" alongside "wild". The Gothic form "wilþeis" shows the same word was already present among the earliest recorded Germanic languages.

Synonyms: wild, untamed, feral, savage

Antonyms: tame, domesticated, civilized