According to Merriam Webster’s dictionary, “wild” means uncivilized or barbaric. Other dictionaries, such as the Cambridge dictionary, describes wild as being “uncontrolled, violent, or extreme.” Many dictionary definitions of the word “wild” use the word to describe things that are out of the social norm or “civilized” way of life. Additionally, the term wild can even be used to describe things that are “attractive” or “exciting.” The definition of wild found from Merriam Webster’s dictionary is very interesting because it describes the term as relative to what is “civilized” or normal. However, because civilization and social norms are not absolute and are constantly changing, this definition would therefore imply that the meaning of wild would also not be absolute, but would instead be constantly changing as well. On the other hand, the definition of wild described in the Cambridge dictionary indicates that wild things are often uncontrolled or extreme. This definition indicates that wildness is opposite of something that is “controlled” or not extreme. However, things that are considered controlled or not extreme have also changed throughout time in different societies and cultures, and therefore wildness is also constantly changing.
I agree with the dictionary definitions in that I believe that “wildness” does not have an absolute meaning throughout time, but rather changes meaning depending on the social norms of different times, contexts, and cultures. Wild is a term used to describe things that are unusual in the context of each unique situation. For example, it would be wild for someone for someone to walk around naked on UT campus in 2022. However, in pre-historic times before 10,000 BC, it may not have been so “wild” for humans to be going around undressed, as it was normal in that society to dress in that way.
I really appreciated your definition of the term “wild.” I thought it was interesting that there was also a definition for “wild” that meant “attractive” or “exciting.” Typically when I think of the word “wild,” I do not readily associate it with being “attractive.” I also really liked your example of wildness on UT’s campus. That would certainly be a wild sight! Furthermore, your comparison to having someone walk around naked in the pre-historic times being less “wild” also made so much sense and it put the term “wild” into a broader historical perspective.
I really liked how you included several definitions of the word “wild” as stated across multiple different dictionaries. Coming into this class I thought this class was going to be about wild animals because I assumed that the term “wild” just referred to animals. But I soon realized how this word has so many different meanings to it. I also really like how you provided the example of what you thought would be “wild” on our campus, that would indeed be wild in this day and age.