-wise

See also: wise, Wise, and WISE

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *weyd-

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *wéydos

Proto-Indo-European *weyd-s-ós

Proto-Germanic *wīsaz

Proto-Germanic *-wīsaz

Proto-West Germanic *-wīs

Old English -wīs

Middle English -wis

English -wise

From Middle English -wis (“-wise”), from Old English -wīs (“-wise”), from Proto-West Germanic *-wīs (“-wise”), from Proto-Germanic *-wīsaz (“-wise”), from Proto-Germanic *wīsaz (“wise, skilled, knowledgeable”), related to Old English wīs, wīse (“manner, way, fashion”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian -wiese (“-wise”), Dutch -wijs (“-wise”), German -weise (“-wise”), Danish -vis (“-wise”), Norwegian -vis (“-wise”), Swedish -vis (“-wise”), Yiddish ־ווײַז (-vayz, “-wise”). More at wise (“way, manner”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /waɪz/
- Audio (US): (file)

Suffix

-wise (adjective-forming suffix, not comparable)
-wise (adverb-forming suffix, not comparable)

In the direction or orientation of.
The gaoler slowly turned the key clockwise.
In the manner of.
You need to follow the instructions carefully; otherwise, the project may not turn out.

Contrariwise, it could be a good idea.
In the matter of; with regard to.
This morning looks promising, weather-wise.
- 1919, Saki, “The Penance”, in The Toys of Peace, page 423:
  They had parents in India—that much Octavian had learned in the neighbourhood; the children, beyond grouping themselves garment-wise into sexes, a girl and two boys, carried their life-story no further on his behoof.
- 1958, “Come Fly With Me”, performed by Frank Sinatra:
  Weather-wise, it's such a lovely day
- 2011 September 1, Harry Pearson, “London 2012 can legacy by verbing the noun”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎^[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 22 September 2024:
  Vocab-wise, medalling and PB-ing are now totally part-and-parcelled, and most experts in South Korea believe podiumed, finalled and all-comered are not far off lexiconing.
- 2015 July 22, Brian Caulfield, “The reality is that there is no incentive tax-wise for Irish entrepreneurs”, in Irish Independent‎^[2], archived from the original on 29 May 2023:
  [see title]
- 2015 August 10, Dheeraj Sharma, “Stereotypicality in Indian cinema is not a healthy trend”, in Hindustan Times‎^[3], archived from the original on 19 May 2025:
  Finally, we presented the religion-wise and caste-wise description presented in Bollywood films to 150 school students. It was found that 94% felt that stereotypical representations were authentic.
One at a time, or one thing at a time.
Add the reagent dropwise to the solution.

Usage notes

The suffix -wise is particularly productive in Indian English. See for example classwise, datewise, subjectwise.

Derived terms

English terms suffixed with -wise

Related terms

-way, -ways

Translations

in the direction or orientation of

Arabic: بِاتِّجاه, مَع (ar) (maʕ)
Hungarian: szerint (hu), irányában (hu), irányába, (of a clock) járása szerint, járásával egyezően/megegyezően
Polish: -ie (pl), -o (pl)
Swedish: åt (sv)

in the manner of

Arabic: مِن جِهة (min jiha)
Danish: -vis
Hungarian: -szerűen, -képpen (hu), módjára, módon (hu)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: -vis (no)

Nynorsk: -vis
Polish: -ie (pl), -o (pl)

in the matter of — see also with regard to,‎ mean

Danish: -mæssig
Finnish: suhteen (fi)
German: -mäßig (de)
Hungarian: terén, -lag (hu), -leg (hu), tekintetében, vonatkozásában, dolgában, illetően (hu), illetőleg (hu), kapcsán (hu), kapcsolatban (hu)
Polish: -ie (pl), -o (pl)
Spanish: en cuanto a (es), en lo que refiere a, en términos de
Swedish: -mässig (sv)
Welsh: o ran

one (thing) at a time

German: -weise (de)
Hungarian: -onként, -anként, -enként, -önként
Japanese: ずつ (ja) (zutsu)
Polish: -ie (pl), -o (pl)
Swedish: -vis (sv)

Anagrams

Siew, wies

Old English

Etymology

From wīse (“manner, way, condition, direction”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˌwiː.se/, [ˌwiː.ze]

Suffix

-wīse f (noun-forming suffix)

forms nouns indicating the state or manner of or signifying a condition or direction
‎riht (“just, right”) + ‎-wīse → ‎rihtwīse (“righteousness, justice”)

‎cniht (“boy, youth”) + ‎-wīse → ‎cnihtwīse (“boyishness”)

‎cyne- (“public, nation, kindred”) + ‎-wīse → ‎cynewīse (“commonwealth, state”)

‎lēoþ (“song, tune, poem”) + ‎-wīse → ‎lēoþwīse (“poetry, verse”)

‎bēag (“ring, hoop, circle”) + ‎-wīse → ‎bēagwīse (“sphere, circular form”)
forms nouns meaning “custom” or “fashion”
‎mynster (“minister”) + ‎-wīse → ‎mynsterwīse (“monastic custom”)

‎fierd (“militia”) + ‎-wīse → ‎fierdwīse (“military style”)

Suffix

-wīse (adverb-forming suffix)

forms adverbs meaning “in the manner or fashion of” or “in the direction of”; -wise
‎hyse (“son, youth”) + ‎-wīse → ‎hysewīse (“like a young man”)

Declension

Weak n-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	-wīse	-wīsan
accusative	-wīsan	-wīsan
genitive	-wīsan	-wīsena
dative	-wīsan	-wīsum