Of a person, the flesh, etc.: (a) lacking in restraint, undisciplined; unmanageable, recalcitrant; riotous, rowdy; headstrong, rash, impetuous; also, ill brought up, unruly;—used of a child; ~ heded; ~ man [see wilde man phr. & n. (a)]; ~ of wille, self-willed; also, obstinate; (b) out of one's mind, frenzied, mad; beside oneself with emotion (e.g., enraged, impassioned, etc.); also, distracted, bewildered; ~ (and) wode; ~ of mod (red); ~ man [see wilde man phr. & n. (b)]; (c) perverse, wicked; lascivious, wanton; also, lusty [quot. c1390]; (d) without civilization, primitive; barbarous, savage; also, inhuman, brutish, beastly; of a tyrant, devils: cruel, vicious; ~ man [see wilde man phr. & n. (c)].

Of an action, behavior, thoughts, utterances, etc.: (a) unrestrained, undisciplined; unmanageable, uncontrollable; also, rowdy, riotous; impulsive, rash, reckless; also, recklessly determined (to do sth.); (b) bestial; ~ complexioun, ?rugged constitution, animal-like strength; (c) perverse, immoral, sinful; lascivious, wanton; werkes ~; (d) in imprecations or intensive expressions: in the ~ vengeaunce, ?with a vengeance; in (the) ~ waninge [see also waning(e ger. 3.(c)].

Of an animal: (a) not domesticated;—freq. in implied contrast to a domesticated counterpart; living in nature rather than among humans; of a food animal: taken in the wild rather than raised in captivity; ~ asse [see also asse n. 3.(a)]; ~ beste [see wilde best(e phr. & n. (a)]; ~ bor [see bor n. 1.(c)]; ~ brede, ~ cat, q.v.; ~ der [see wilde der phr. & n. (a), (b)]; ~ digge (fox, hound, hors, ro, swan, etc.); ~ foul [see wilde foul(e phr. & n. (a)]; ~ gos [see gos n. 1.(d)]; ~ got [see got n. 2]; ~ swine [see also swin(e n. 1.(b)]; (b) not docile, difficult to restrain or manage, uncontrollable; also in fig. context; also, sportive, playful; ~ fish (colt); ~ hors [see hors n. 2.(e)]; (c) savage, vicious, malign; also in fig. context; also, destructive [last quot.]; ~ bere [see also ber(e n.(1) 1.(b)]; ~ beste [see wilde best(e phr. & n. (b)]; ~ bor [see bor n. 1.(c)]; ~ der [see wilde der phr. & n. (c)]; ~ dragoun (hound, lioun, liounesse, wolf, worm, etc); ~ swine [see also swin(e n. 1.(b)].

As noun: (a) an undomesticated animal, a wild beast; also, a game animal;—also coll.; ~ and tame, all animals, every creature, everything; (b) a domesticated animal that has escaped.

(a) In prov. expressions and conventional comparisons related to senses 1., 2., and 3a.; (b) in generalizing phrases, often as mere rime tag, with diminished force: ~ and (or) tame, tame and ~, etc.

(a) Of natural phenomena: of furious intensity, raging, violent; of rainfall: torrential; ~ brand, consuming flames; ~ fir [see wilde fir(e phr. & n. (a)]; as it had ben ~, violently; (b) of an illness, a toxin: violent in effect, virulent.

Of vegetation, a natural product, etc.: (a) growing unchecked, overluxuriant; (b) growing in the wild, flourishing without cultivation; (c) produced by undomesticated creatures; found in the wild; obtained from animals taken in the wild; not raised for the table [2nd quot.]; ~ brede, q.v.; ~ foul [see wilde foul(e phr. & n. (b)]; ~ ware, ~ werk, q.v.

In names or designations of plants, freq. variously identified and often difficult to assign to a single species; also in names or designations of parts of or preparations made from specific plants, usu. as applied medicinally: (a) ~ anete, Hog's fennel Peucedanum offinale; ~ bete, ?betony Betonica officinalis [cp. betein(e n., betonike n.]; ?cowslip Primula officinalis; ~ borage, ?Anchusa arvensis or Echium vulgare; ~ caul, wild cabbage Brassica oleracea; ~ celidoine, a member of the family Papaveraceae, prob. the horned poppy Glaucium flavium or the common celandine Chelidonium majus; ~ comin, wild cumin Lagoecia cuminoides or a naturalized variety of common cumin Cuminum cyminum; ~ cucurbite, the colocynth Citrullus colocynthis; ~ cucurd, ?some species of wild gourd, perh. = ~ cucurbite; ~ curvet, ?a variety of bryony; ~ fecche, a wild leguminous plant of the genus Vicia or related genera; ~ feld-more, the wild parsnip Pastinaca sativa; ~ fige-tre, the caprifig Ficus carica or sycamore fig; ~ flex, some species of linaria, perh. toadflax Linaria vulgaris; ~ gar-lek (lek), an uncultivated variety of garlic, prob. ramsons Allium ursinum or crow garlic Allium vineale; ~ gourde, the colocynth Citrullus colocynthis; ~ gromil, a variety of gromwell, prob. Lithospermum officinalis or Lithospermum arvense, corn gromwell; ~ hemp, = domb netle Eupatorium cannabinum [s.v. domb adj. 7.(a)]; (b) ~ lange-de-bef, a plant variously identified [cp. lange-de-bef n. 1.(a)]; ~ letuse [see letuse n.(1) (a),(b)]; ~ lilie, glossing L balaustia, the pomegranate flower; also glossing L lilifagus Salvia officinalis; ~ lov-ache, a member of the genus Levisticum, perh. Levisticum officinale, or a wild plant resembling lovage, perh. sea parsley Ligusticum scoticum; ~ malwe, either the common mallow Malva silvestris or the marsh mallow Althea officinalis growing wild; ?also, a plant of the genus Hibiscus [see also malwe n. 1.(b)]; ~ minte, any of several uncultivated, generally similar plants of various genera, e.g., horsemint Mentha silvestris; also, calamint, perh. round-leaved mint Mentha rotundifolia; also, erroneously identified as mirt(e n.; also, ?the vervain [quot. a1300]; ~ nep (1), any of a large number of climbing or vine-producing plants of various genera, including members of the family Cucurbitaceae, esp. white or red bryony (Bryonia dioica or Bryonia alba) or the squirting cucumber Ecballium elaterium, or of the genus Cucumis; ?also, wild grapevine (Vitis vinifera or Vitis silvestris) [cp. nep n.(1)]; ~ nep (2), the wild turnip Brassica campestris [cp. nep. n.(2) (a)]; ~ nep beries, the fruit of the white bryony (Bryonia dioica or Bryonia alba); ~ nepte, prob. = ~ nep (1); ~ netle, a plant of the genus Urtica; ~ olive tre, an uncultivated variety of the olive tree Olea silvestris; (c) ~ passe-nepe, the wild parsnip Pastinaca sativa; ~ peletre, German chamomile Matricaria chamomilla or common chamomile Anthemus nobilis; ~ perseli, an uncultivated variety of parsley Petroselinum agreste or a naturalized variety of common parsley Petrselinum crispum; also, alexanders or horse parsley Smyrnium olustratum; ~ popie, an uncultivated variety of the opium poppy Papaver somniferum; also, any of several unrelated species, prob. Centaurea calcitrapa or Valeriana celtica; ~ poudre of comin, a medicinal substance made from the seeds of the wild cumin; ~ radiche, an uncultivated species of the genus Raphanus, prob. Raphanus raphanistrum; ~ red popie, ?the corn poppy Papaver rhoeas; ~ rose, = saliunca n.; ~ rue, a plant of the genus Thalictrum, prob. common meadow rue Thalictrum flavum; also, fumitory Fumaria officinalis; ~ sanagrene (savager), cockle Agrostemma githago or darnel Lolium temulentum; ~ sauge, a member of the genus Salvia; also, wood sage, ambrose Teucrium scorodonia; ~ skirwhite, a member of the genus Pastinaca, a wild parsnip; also, ?the wild carrot Daucus carota; ~ spurge, an uncultivated plant of the genus Euphorbia, wild spurge; (d) ~ tanseie [see tansei(e n. 1.(c)]; ~ tare, an uncultivated member of the genus Vicia, vetch; ~ tesel [see tesel n. (b)]; ~ thistel, an uncultivated member of the genus Carduus, the wild thistle, or of the genus Ammi; also identified as chervil [1st quot.]; ~ time, wild thyme Thymus serpyllum or a similar member of the genus Thymus; ~ vine (vini), any of several viny or climbing plants of various genera, including wild grapevine (Vitis vinifera or Vitis silvestris) and bryony Bryonia dioica; also identified with the wild olive tree [quot. a1500 Hrl.1002 Gloss.]; also, stavesacre Delphinium staphisagria; ~ wort, any of several unrelated plants: wild radish Raphanus raphanistrum, white charlock; also, wild cabbage Brassica oleracea or wild mustard Sinapis arvensis; ?also, dropwort Filipendula vulgaris; ?scabwort (variously identified) or clary (Salvia sclarea or Salvia verbenaca); blak ~ vine, black bryony Tamus communis; purcelane ~, an uncultivated variety of the European purslane (Portulaca oleracea or Portulaca silvestris).

(a) Of land, a field: uncultivated, undeveloped; of a garden: overgrown;—used fig.; of a forest, woodland: existing in its natural state, left untouched by human industry; ~ wode, q.v.; (b) of a region: unexplored, trackless, remote; of seas: uncharted, boundless; of the world: vast, limitless; of a land, forest, etc.: barren, deserted, desolate; also, rugged, forbidding; ~ of peple, unpopulated; ~ wode, q.v.; (c) of a house: untended, in a state of disorder; of the world: disordered, made chaotic.

Anat. & med. (a) Of humors: out of balance, disordered; (b) of tissue: ?necrotic; ?inflamed; (c) of a bone or other bodily structure: outer, outermost; ~ outwarde; (d) ~ fir [see wilde fir(e phr. & n. (c)].

(a) In surnames; (b) in place names [see Smith PNElem. 2.265].