wonder
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwʌndə/
ipa: /ˈwʌndɚ/
rhymes: -ʌndə(ɹ)
Forms: form: wonders
form: wondering
form: wondered
form: wondered
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: wonder
form: wonder
form: wondered
form: wonder
form: wonderest
form: wondered
form: wonderedst
form: wonders
form: wondereth
form: wondered
form: wonder
form: wondered
form: wonder
form: wondered
form: wonder
form: -
form: wondering
form: wondered
form: wondre
Etymology: From Middle English wonder, wunder, from Old English wundor (“wonder, miracle, marvel”), from Proto-West Germanic *wundr, from Proto-Germanic *wundrą.
Cognate with Scots wunner (“wonder”), West Frisian wonder, wûnder (“wonder, miracle”), Dutch wonder (“miracle, wonder”), Low German wunner, wunder (“wonder”), German Wunder (“miracle, wonder”), Danish, Norwegian and Swedish under (“wonder, miracle”), Icelandic undur (“wonder”).
The verb is from Middle English wondren, from Old English wundrian, which is from Proto-Germanic *wundrōną. Cognate with Saterland Frisian wunnerje, West Frisian wûnderje, Dutch wonderen, German Low German wunnern, German wundern, Swedish undra, Icelandic undra.
Via PIE cognate with English wish (see more).
Senses: examples: text: He's married by now, I shouldn't wonder.
text: […]I could not ſufficiently wonder at the Intrepidity of theſe diminutive Mortals,[…]
ref: 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author Gives Some Account of Himself and Family, His First Inducements to Travel. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput), pages 14–15:
text: Some had read the manuſcript, and rectified its inaccuracies; others had ſeen it in a ſtate ſo imperfect, that they could not forbear to wonder at its preſent excellence; […]
ref: 1751 October 19 (Gregorian calendar), Samuel Johnson, “No. 163. Tuesday, October 8. 1751.”, in The Rambler, volume VII, Edinburgh: […] Sands, Murray, and Cochran; sold by W. Gordon, C. Wright, J. Yair, […], published 1752, →OCLC, page 35:
text: The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.
ref: 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 58:
glosses: To be affected with surprise or admiration; to be struck with astonishment; to be amazed; to marvel; often followed by at.
examples: text: He wondered whether penguins could fly. She had wondered this herself sometimes.
text: Has Jay gone fishing, I wonder?
text: I was wondering what time the film was starting.
text: I wonder in my Soule / What you would aske me, that I ſhould deny[…]
ref: c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii], page 323, column 1:
text: Topping it all off, The National Alliance is an expensive, professionally-produced newspaper that is distributed for free all over the place. One wonders: Where does their money come from? Who is supporting them?
ref: 1988 December 4, John Kyper, “Avoid Friends Like The New Alliance Party”, in Gay Community News, volume 16, number 21, page 4:
glosses: To ponder; to feel doubt and curiosity; to query in the mind.
Synonyms: sense: to ponder
word: ponder
Derived terms: bewonder
forwonder
just wondering
unwonder
wonderer