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What is the difference between knowledge and wisdom?

knowledge | wisdom |

In countable terms the difference between knowledge and wisdom

is that knowledge is something that can be known; a branch of learning; a piece of information; a science while wisdom is a piece of wise advice.

As nouns the difference between knowledge and wisdom

is that knowledge is acknowledgement while wisdom is an element of personal character that enables one to distinguish the wise from the unwise.

As proper nouns the difference between knowledge and wisdom

is that knowledge is a course of study which must be completed by prospective London taxi drivers; consists of 320 routes through central London and many significant places while Wisdom is the Wisdom of Solomon, a book of the Old Testament and the Hebrew Tanakh.

As a verb knowledge

is to confess as true; to acknowledge.

knowledge

Alternative forms

* (obsolete) knolege, knowlage, knowleche, knowledg, knowlege, knowliche, knowlych, knowlech * knaulege, knaulage, knawlage * knoleche, knoleige, knowlache, knolych * knawlache

Noun

(en-noun)
  • (obsolete) Acknowledgement.
  • The fact of knowing about something; general understanding or familiarity with a subject, place, situation etc.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= The machine of a new soul , passage=The yawning gap in neuroscientists’ understanding of their topic is in the intermediate scale of the brain’s anatomy. Science has a passable knowledge of how individual nerve cells, known as neurons, work. It also knows which visible lobes and ganglia of the brain do what. But how the neurons are organised in these lobes and ganglia remains obscure.}}
  • Awareness of a particular fact or situation; a state of having been informed or made aware of something.
  • * 1813 , (Jane Austen), (Pride and Prejudice) :
  • He had always intended to visit him, though to the last always assuring his wife that he should not go; and till the evening after the visit was paid she had no knowledge of it.
  • Intellectual understanding; the state of appreciating truth or information.
  • Familiarity or understanding of a particular skill, branch of learning etc.
  • * 1573 , George Gascoigne, "The Adventures of Master F.J.", An Anthology of Elizabethan Prose Fiction :
  • Every time that he had knowledge of her he would leave, either in the bed, or in her cushion-cloth, or by her looking-glass, or in some place where she must needs find it, a piece of money.
  • (obsolete) Information or intelligence about something; notice.
  • * 1580 , Edward Hayes, "Sir Humphrey Gilbert's Voyage to Newfoundland", Voyages and Travels Ancient and Modern , ed. Charles W Eliot, Cosimo 2005, p. 280:
  • Item, if any ship be in danger, every man to bear towards her, answering her with one light for a short time, and so to put it out again; thereby to give knowledge that they have seen her token.
  • The total of what is known; all information and products of learning.
  • (countable) Something that can be known; a branch of learning; a piece of information; a science.
  • *, II.12:
  • *:he weakened his braines much, as all men doe, who over nicely and greedily will search out those knowledges , which hang not for their mowing, nor pertaine unto them.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • There is a great difference in the delivery of the mathematics, which are the most abstracted of knowledges .
  • (obsolete) Notice, awareness.
  • * 1611 , The Bible, Authorized Version, Ruth II.10:
  • Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?
  • (UK, informal) The deep familiarity with certain routes and places of interest required by taxicab drivers working in London, England.
  • * Malcolm Bobbitt, Taxi! - The Story of the London Cab
  • There is only one sure way to memorise the runs and that is to follow them, either on foot, cycle or motor cycle; hence, the familiar sight of would-be cabbies learning the knowledge during evenings and weekends.

    Quotations

    * 1996 , Jan Jindy Pettman, Worlding Women: A feminist international politics , pages ix-x: *: There are by now many feminisms (Tong, 1989; Humm, 1992)..

    Usage notes

    * Adjectives often used with “knowledge”: extensive, deep, superficial, theoretical, practical, useful, working, encyclopedic, public, private, scientific, tacit, explicit, general, specialized, special, broad, declarative, procedural, innate, etc.

    Derived terms

    (terms derived from knowledge) * acknowledge * background knowledge * carnal knowledge * common knowledge * foreknowledge * general knowledge * interknowledge * knowledgeable or knowledgable * knowledge base * knowledge domain * knowledge engineer * knowledge is power * knowledge management * knowledge worker * metaknowledge * prior knowledge * protoknowledge * public knowledge * scientific knowledge * self-knowledge * sphere of knowledge * theory of knowledge * traditional knowledge * tree of knowledge * working knowledge * zero-knowledge proof

    Synonyms

    * awareness * cognizance * * knowingness * learning

    Antonyms

    * ignorance

    Verb

  • (obsolete) To confess as true; to acknowledge.
  • * 1526 , Bible , tr. William Tyndale, Matthew 3:
  • Then went oute to hym Jerusalem, and all Jury, and all the region rounde aboute Jordan, and were baptised of hym in Jordan, knoledging their synnes.

    See also

    * data * erudition * information * know-how * perception * wisdom

    Statistics

    *

    wisdom

    English

    (wikipedia wisdom)

    Noun

  • (uncountable) An element of personal character that enables one to distinguish the wise from the unwise.
  • (countable) A piece of wise advice.
  • The discretionary use of knowledge for the greatest good.
  • The ability to apply relevant knowledge in an insightful way, especially to different situations from that in which the knowledge was gained.
  • The ability to make a decision based on the combination of knowledge, experience, and intuitive understanding.
  • (theology) The ability to know and apply spiritual truths.
  • * 1652 , , The Fame and Confe??ion of the Fraternity of…the Ro?ie Cro?s , pages 1–2 of the preface
  • Wi?dom …is to a man an infinite Trea?ure, for ?he is the Breath of the Power of God, and a pure Influence that floweth from the Glory of the Almighty; ?he is the Brightne?s of Eternal Light, and an undefiled Mirror of the Maje?ty of God, and an Image of his Goodne?s; ?he teacheth us Soberne?s and Prudence, Righteou?ne?s and Strength; ?he under?tands the Subtilty of words, and Solution of dark ?entences; ?he foreknoweth Signs and Wonders, and what ?hall happen in time to come.

    Synonyms

    * sagacity * sapience

    Antonyms

    * foolishness * folly

    Derived terms

    * conventional wisdom * pearl of wisdom * wisdom tooth

    See also

    * morality English words suffixed with -dom ----