View source for Wild - Wilde

The two [[homophone]]s '''wild''' and '''Wilde''' shouldn't be confused.
*In [[Present-Day English]], the spelling with a terminal '-e' is always a proper name, the [[surname]] borne most famously by [[Oscar Wilde]] (1854-1900), the writer and wit. (The [[adjective]] '''Wildean''' is used to describe his writings and  style, etc, and those that resemble it.)
**(In older English, it was an occasional spelling of the common [[adjective]] '''wild'''. '''Wilde-''' is an element in the name of an African antelope ''Connochaetes taurinus'' or ''C. gnou'', also called a '''gnu''' in English. The [[etymology]] is [[Afrikaans]], from the [[adjective|adj.]] ''wild'' ('wild') and the [[noun|n.]] ''beest'' ('beast'). You may also see ''wilde'' in various German expressions.
*The English [[adjective]] '''wild''' means 'not domesticated', 'untamed'. It was first applied to animals and plants; then to the uninhabited lands where they might be found ('''the wilds''' means the barren places, as in ''[[OED]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s citation from Dickens: "Among the wilds and forests of the west" (''American Notes'' viii).  It has also been used ot desxcribe any restrained or uncontrolled phenomenon or behaviour: an oil-well is said to 'run wild' when its flow can no longer be controlled; a child is said to be wild when thoughtless passion makes it behave in an uncontrollable way; `people with bad tempers can 'fly into a wild rage'; when the sea is wild, it is dangerous to shipping, and a wild wind will damage trees and houses; and so on.

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