Dictionary

wise man en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈwʌɪzman/ (UK)

Etymology

wise + man

Meanings

1. A man who is wise.
   • That is the reason, why some say, that the wiseman liveth as long as he ought, and not so long as he can. 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 3, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
   • Mr Lieberman is arguably the last surviving example of a peculiar Washington species: the Wise Man who is willing to put party allegiance aside when it comes to big issues such as foreign policy. 2005 December 14, “A wise man in Washington”, in The Economist:
   • But where's that wiseman, that would not be I, / If she would not deny? 1635, John Donne, The Triple Foole:
2. A man who is a sage or seer.
   • Steady old Väinämöinen / the everlasting wise man [translating tietäjä] / was driving along his roads / pacing out his ways / in those glades of Väinö-land / on the Kalevala heaths. 1989, Elias Lönnrot, translated by Keith Bosley, The Kalevala, section III:
3. A magus or wizard, now especially one of the three biblical magi.
   • Some of the other charms employed by the wise men had a more tangled pedigree. 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 174:

Forms

Deriveds

Three Wise Men

Hypernyms

seer · sage · mentor · elder

Relateds

wise woman

Translations (39)

ja 哲人 (wise man) · pt mago (man who is a sage or seer) · pt mago (wise man) · pt mago (magus) · gl rei mago (magus) · vi hiền giả (wise man) · fr sage (wise man) · pl mędrzec (wise man) · ang wita (wise man) · cmn 智者 (wise man) · mk маг (magus) · fr roi mage (magus) · eo saĝulo (wise man) · fi tietäjä (magus) · gl sabio (wise man) · ja 賢人 (wise man) · fi tietäjä (man who is a sage or seer) · cmn 哲人 (wise man) · pra-mah 𑀧𑀁𑀟𑀺𑀅 (wise man) · ja 賢者 (wise man) · sa कवि (wise man) · mk ра́зумник (wise man) · izh tiitäjä (man who is a sage or seer) · yi חכם (wise man) · izh tiitäjä (magus) · mk у́мник (wise man) · fi viisas mies (wise man) · ga fáidh (wise man) · es sabio (wise man) · es rey mago (magus) · mk му́дрец (man who is a sage or seer) · egy s-sA-A-A-A2-A1 (wise man) · fi see Itämaan tietäjät (magus) · lv gudrinieks (wise man) · la sapiens (wise man) · cmn 聖人 /圣人 (wise man) · vi triết nhân (wise man) · ga fáidh (magus) · grc σοφός (wise man)