unwisdom

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*dʰeh₁-“to do; to place, put”
2. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*weyd-“to know; to see”
3. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*wīsadōmaz“wise judgment, wisdom”
4. Old English · inherited fromunwīsdōm
5. Middle English · inherited fromunwisdom“lack of wisdom, foolishness; an instance of this”
6. English todayunwisdom

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.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from Old English Lack of wisdom; unwise action or conduct; folly, foolishness.