Wild - Wilde

The two homophones 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 adj. wild ('wild') and the 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'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.