unwisdom

Definition

Lack of wisdom; unwise action or conduct; folly, foolishness.

Etymology

PIE word *né From Middle English unwisdom (“lack of wisdom, foolishness; an instance of this”), from Old English unwīsdōm, from un- (prefix denoting absence or negation of something) + wīsdōm (“wisdom”) (from Proto-Germanic *wīsadōmaz (“wise judgment, wisdom”), from *wīsaz (“knowledgeable, wise”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to know; to see”)) + *-dōmaz (suffix forming nouns denoting the condition or state of [the suffixed word]) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to do; to place, put”))). The word was apparently obsolete in the 18th century, but was revived from the 19th century and possibly popularized by its use in the works of the Scottish author and philosopher Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881): see the quotations. By surface analysis, un- (prefix denoting a lack of something) + wisdom.

Example Sentences

• "And all we conſyderynge her gracyous and charytable mynde, ſo unyuerſally, and conſyderyng the redyneſs of mercy and pyte in our Savyour Jheſu, may ſay, by lamentable complaynt of our unwyſedome, unto hym. Ah Domine! ſi fuiſſes hic—Ah my Lorde! yf thou had ben preſente, […]"
• "Eccle[siasticus] 21. 15. […] Forſooth vnvviſedome is, &c. [i.e., which is plenteous in euill.] Sixtus [Pope Sixtus V] and the Louans, reading it amiſſe."
• "[T]he French government has committed the unwisdom of persecuting the Saint-Simonians. Persecution is always a bungler's craft, that in trying to stop one hole opens two."

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