Link Centre Dictionary

wonder

won·der

UK/ˈwʌndə/ US/ˈwʌ̹ndə/ very common informal uk us
verb (3) noun (3)

verb

1.

have a wish or desire to know something

  • “He wondered who had built this beautiful church”
Synonyms
2.

place in doubt or express doubtful speculation

  • “I wonder whether this was the right thing to do”
  • “she wondered whether it would snow tonight”
Synonyms
3.

be amazed at

  • “We marvelled at the child”
Synonyms

noun

1.
2.

something that causes feelings of wonder

  • “the wonders of modern science”
Synonyms
3.

a state in which you want to learn more about something

Synonyms

Origin

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 Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish under (“wonder, miracle”), Faroese and 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).

Phrases

  • 90-day wonder
  • armless wonder
  • bird of wonder
  • boy wonder
  • chinless wonder
  • girl wonder
  • golden wonder killifish
  • just wondering
  • ninety-day wonder

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.