wild, adjective

Origin:
EnglishShow more English, referring to the similarity between a familiar European species and an unfamiliar African species.
Special collocations.
a. In the names of plants:
wild almond, wild chestnut sense (a), see below;
wild apricot, any of several small trees or shrubs, (a) any of several species of Dovyalis of the Flacourtiaceae, especially D. caffra; see also Kei apple (Kei sense 1); (b) any of several species of Diospyros of the Ebenaceae; see also jakkalsbessie;
wild banana, either of two species of plant of the genus Strelitzia, S. alba or S. reginae, bearing stiff flowers of orange, yellow, and purple; also called strelitzia;
wild celery, the blister bush, Peucedanum galbanum;
wild chestnut, either of two indigenous flowering trees with spreading branches and pink or lilac blossom, (a) Brabejum stellatifolium of the Proteaceae; wild almond; (b) Calodendrum capense of the Rutaceae;
Cape chestnut, see Cape sense 2 a; the fruit of these trees;
wild fig, wild fig tree [translation of Afrikaans wildevijg, wildevy], any of several species of tree of the genus Ficus;
wild gardenia, kershout sense 2;
wild garlic, the wilde knoflok (see wilde sense a), Tulbaghia alliacea;
wild grape, see as a main entry;
wild kapok [translation of Afrikaans wildekapok], the soft cotton-like hairs encasing the seeds of either of two plants, Asclepias fruticosa of the Asclepiadaceae (also called melkbos sense 1 a i), or Ipomoea albivenia of the Convolvulaceae; cf. kapok sense 1;
wild melon, tsamma;
wild olive, olienhout sense a; also attributive;
wild orange ?obsolete, any of several small trees belonging to the genus Strychnos of the Loganiaceae (especially Strychnos pungens), bearing fruit with edible pulp; see also klapper noun1 sense 1;
wild pear, (a) the small deciduous tree Dombeya rotundifolia of the Sterculiaceae (cacao family); the wood of this tree; also called wild plum (sense (d), see below); (b) any of several trees of the Ochnaceae, especially Ochna pulchra;
wild pisang, see pisang sense 2 b;
wild plum, any of several trees bearing plum-like fruits, especially (a) Harpephyllum caffrum; formerly also called kaffir plum (see kaffir noun sense 2 e); its fruit; (b) Pappea capensis of the Sapindaceae, valued for the shade and sustenance it offers in arid areas; its fruit; (c) Bequaertiodendron magalismontanum; also called stamvrug; the fruit of this tree; (d) the wild pear (sense (a), see above), Dombeya rotundifolia; the fruit of this tree; (e) the amatungulu, Carissa macrocarpa; (f) the moretlwa, Grewia flava;
wild pomegranate, (a) the moisture-loving shrub Burchellia bubalina of the Rubiaceae; (b) any of several species of Rhigozum of the Bignoniaceae, especially the small twiggy tree R. obovatum;
wild sage [see quotation 1966], (a) salie sense 1; (b) the vaalbos (sense 1 a), Tarchonanthus camphoratus;
wild spinach, morogo;
wild watermelon, tsamma;
wild wormwood, the wilde als (see wilde sense a), Artemisia afra.
1731 G. Medley tr. of P. Kolben’s Present State of Cape of G.H. I. 202One Sort of Fruit they eat is call’d the Wild or the African Almond. They boil those Almonds twice or thrice in fresh Water, and then lay them in the Sun to dry.
1790 tr. of F. Le Vaillant’s Trav. II. 241I have..often met with the wild almond tree, wilde-amandel, the narrow leaves and fruit of which..differed only in the reddish brown colour of the husk.
1887 S.W. Silver & Co.’s Handbk to S. Afr. 139The Wilde Amandel, Wild Almond, is the fruit of Brabeium Stellatifolium...It is a stone-fruit, clothed with a velvety coat, and has received its popular name from its striking resemblance to an almond.
1906 B. Stoneman Plants & their Ways 210Brabeium, (Kaffir Chestnut or Wild Almond)...The almond-like fruits, when roasted, make a good substitute for cocoa, though they are poisonous if eaten raw.
1961 Palmer & Pitman Trees of S. Afr. 216The wild almond has the distinction of being the first indigenous tree to be cultivated in South Africa.
1790 W. Paterson Narr. of Four Journeys 126In this plain grows..a beautiful shrub, called the Wild Apricot.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 553Wild apricot, Dovyalis tristis.
1972 Palmer & Pitman Trees of Sn Afr. III. 1561Dovyalis caffra..Kei apple, Dingaan’s apricot, wild apricot...Although this is primarily a species occurring from the eastern Cape to the Transkei..it is also recorded from Natal, Zululand, and..from the central, eastern and northern Transvaal.
1972 Palmer & Pitman Trees of Sn Afr. III. 1565Dovyalis rotundifolia..Wild Apricot.
1972 Palmer & Pitman Trees of Sn Afr. III. 1567Dovyalis rhamnoides..Cape cranberry, wild apricot.
1972 Palmer & Pitman Trees of Sn Afr. III. 1786Diospyros...In the Republic about 16 species grow as trees...The early colonists called some species wild apricots.
1987 F. Von Breitenbach Nat. List of Indigenous Trees 139Dovyalis caffra..Kei apple, Wild Apricot, Dingaan’s Apricot.
1987 F. Von Breitenbach Nat. List of Indigenous Trees 140Dovyalis zeyheri..Wild Apricot.
1991 Philatelic Bulletin (No. 8075)Dovyalis caffra...The most common species of Dovyalis in Bophuthatswana is D. zeyheri, the wild apricot, but the Kei-apple also occurs in this area.
[1836 A.F. Gardiner Journey to Zoolu Country 17We slept well under the shade of some strelitzia trees (very similar to wild bananas).]
1917 R. Marloth Dict. of Common Names of Plants 8Banana, Wild —, of the coast districts, is not a Musa, but Strelitzia augusta.
c1963 B.C. Tait Durban Story 83Clumps of wild date-palms and wild bananas, with here and there a wild fig tree, grew among the scrub and Amatungula, coarse grass and rushes.
1986 J. Conyngham Arrowing of Cane 23I scan the slope of cane, palms, amatungulu and wild bananas.
1903 Mountain Club Annual (Cape Town) 24 (Pettman)The other day a friend of mine had a more than usual dose of blistering...The awkward feature of this danger is that one does not notice any effect on the hand until about thirty of forty hours after one has touched the plant. Its name is Bubon, or if any one prefers the colonial name ‘Wild celery’.
1970 M.R. Levyns in Std Encycl. of Sn Afr. II. 365Blister-bush, Wild celery...The dried leaves have been used medicinally for the treatment of dropsy. The home of the plant is on the mountains of the South-Western Cape Province.
1986 Y. Van Wijk Practical Bk of Herbs 17Their initial poverty, and the hardship and droughts they endured, hastened the settlers’ recourse to ‘veldkos’ that included..wild celery (Peucedanum sp.).
1795 C.R. Hopson tr. of C.P. Thunberg’s Trav. I. 129The Hottentots eat the fruit of the brabeium stellatum, a large shrub that grows near brooks and rivulets, called wilde castanien (wild chestnuts) and sometimes used by the country people instead of coffee.
1809 J. Mackrill Diary. 64Calodendrum, Wild Chesnut [sic], is a lofty tree bearing flowers filled with a sweet nectar which attracts numerous butterflies.
1868 J. Chapman Trav. II. 450The Wild Chestnut..well deserving its name for its exquisitely-pencilled delicate pink flowers.
1909 E. London Dispatch 3 July 5The beautiful lilac flowers of the wild chestnut are opening two or three months before their time.
1961 Palmer & Pitman Trees of S. Afr. 269The wild chestnut is found in forests and forest scrub from the Cape Province through Natal to the Transvaal, and northwards through Rhodesia and Abyssinia.
1972 S. Afr. Garden & Home Oct. 145Among these trees are flowering wild chestnuts with pale lilac blossoms.
1853 F. Galton Narr. of Explorer in Tropical S. Afr. 63Along the ravines a few wild fig-trees grew.
1912 E. London Dispatch 12 Apr. 7 (Pettman)It is very seldom that the Cape chestnut and the Wild fig become altogether devoid of leaves.
1953 Cape Argus 25 Feb. 9Eighty trees, including jakkalsbessie, geelhout, wild fig,..have been planted along Table Bay boulevard.
1966 C.A. Smith Common Names 508Wild fig (tree), Various species of Ficus.., see wildevy(e)(boom). The vernacular name was first applied to F. capensis and subsequently to F. natalensis by the Dutch-speaking colonists.
1972 M.R. Levyns in Std Encycl. of Sn Afr. VI. 370Other common names of R. capensis are candlewood and wild gardenia.
1974 Skinner & Yates Our Trees 41Rothmannia capensis, Aapsekos, wild gardenia.
1975 C. Letty Trees of S. Afr. 46Wild Gardenia..Rothmannia capensis. The three species of Rothmannia in South Africa are wide-spread. Named by the great Swedish plant collector Carl Thunberg, they were later taken into the Gardenia group, but after more than a century, in 1958, were given back the original name. The Wild Gardenia was first discovered at the Cape.
1984 R.J. Poynton Characteristics & Uses of Sel. Trees 86Rothmannia capensis..Wild Gardenia.
1989 B. Courtenay Power of One 153The pale yellow blossoms of wild gardenia.
1991 Ornamental Trees & Shrubs of Afr. (calendar)This attractive glossy leaved wild gardenia occurs naturally from Grahamstown to Kosi Bay...Sweetly scented flowers are followed by interesting, hard, grey, knob-like fruits which, in the wild, are eaten by large animals.
1966 C.A. Smith Common Names 508Wild garlic,..The vernacular name is derived from the garlic-like scent of the broken leaves and bulb scales.
[1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 555Wild cotton or Wilde kapok, Asclepias fruticosa, Linn., and other species are known as ‘Wild cotton’. In Natal and Portuguese East Africa, this name has been given to Ipomoea albivenia.]
1990 Staffrider Vol.9 No.1, 85Behind their jangled key-closed doors I may not touch her, fingers meeting soft as wild kapok against the glass.
1894 R. Marloth in Trans. of S. Afr. Phil. Soc. p.lxxxOur common wild-melon (Citrullus vulgaris).
1920 F.C. Cornell Glamour of Prospecting 88Bushmen still wandered there,..living on the tsamma (or wild melon).
1974 B. De Winter in Std Encycl. of Sn Afr. X. 640Tsamma. Wild melon. Bitter melon.
1975 Motorist Feb. 36In the rolling sand dunes of the Kalahari..tsamas (wild melon)..abound.
1731 G. Medley tr. of P. Kolben’s Present State of Cape of G.H. II. 243Olea Africana humilis sylvestris, folio duro, subtus incano. i.e. Dwarf African Wild Olive, with a hard Leaf, white on the underside.
1828 T. Pringle Ephemerides 113By the wild-olive brake where the wolf has his den.
1856 R.E.E. Wilmot Diary (1984) 84The road sides lined with jessamine, wild olive, and strelitzias.
1879 E.L. Price Jrnls (1956) 349There are a good many wild-olives & camel-thorns.
1905 D.E. Hutchins in Flint & Gilchrist Science in S. Afr. 392The common ‘Wild Olive’ furnishes a good fencing post.
1951 N.L. King Tree-Planting 69Olea africana (verrucosa) (Wild Olive),..Very hardy.
1961 Palmer & Pitman Trees of S. Afr. 301The wild olive, with its dense, round crown and grey-green foliage, is a familiar sight in the Karroo, the north-west Cape, Bechuanaland, and the Free State, where it is one of the most common trees.
1970 S. Afr. Panorama Sept. 40The wood of the wild olive-tree is extremely hard and can only be used for making furniture when it is hundreds of years old.
1989 J. Hobbs Thoughts in Makeshift Mortuary 74Scrubby bushes, aloes and a single wild olive tree were the only plants that found a root-hold in the eruption of sandstone rocks.
1895 A.B. Balfour 1200 Miles in Waggon 110There were..figs, wild oranges (I measured one: it was 13½ inches in circumference, and as hard as a cricket ball).
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 352Orange, Wild, See Kaffir Orange.
1921 T.R. Sim Native Timbers of S. Afr. 120Strychnos pungens..Wild Orange.
1932 Watt & Breyer-Brandwijk Medicinal & Poisonous Plants 140The pulp of the fruit of Strychnos pungens Solered., Wild orange, Kaffir orange, Klapper.
1961 Palmer & Pitman Trees of S. Afr. 227The wild pear is a small deciduous tree growing up to 20 feet in height with hairy leaves, round in outline, and usually a rough brownish-black bark.
1990 Weekend Post 14 July (Leisure) 4He makes it (sc. furniture) to order from popular woods like..wild pear.
1907 T.R. Sim Forests & Forest Flora 145 (Pettman)In Transvaal..it (sc. Dombeya rotundifolia) is known as Wild plum on account of the similarity of the flowering bush to a plum tree.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 559Wild plum, The handsome edible fruit of Ximenia caffra, Sond., of a bright plum colour; it is very acid but of a pleasant flavour and is common in the Transvaal and Natal...Wild plum, The Transvaal name for Dombeya rotundifolia.
1972 Palmer & Pitman Trees of Sn Afr. I. 283The kernels of the small red fruits of the wild plum, Pappea capensis, are very rich in sweetly-scented oil which farmers’ wives once used for soap, farmers for greasing their guns, and Hottentots for anointing their skin.
1972 Palmer & Pitman Trees of Sn Afr. II. 1474Dombeya rotundifolia...Wild pear, wild plum.
1972 Palmer & Pitman Trees of Sn Afr. III. 1714Bequaertiodendron magalismontanum...Stamvrug, wild plum.
1982 Fox & Norwood Young Food from Veld 54Here are some of the plants reported to us as being resorted to when the usual foods become exhausted:..Carissa macrocarpa — wild plum.
1982 Fox & Norwood Young Food from Veld 155Garcinia livingstonei...Common names: English — Lowveld mangosteen, wild plum.
1982 Fox & Norwood Young Food from Veld 351Grewia flava...Common names: English — brandy bush, raisin tree, wild plum.
1989 Your Gardening Questions Answered (Reader’s Digest Assoc.) 356Wild Plum,..Harpephyllum caffrum (Wild plum). Quick-growing, indigenous, evergreen tree with glossy leaves composed of small leaflets. In early summer, it bears small, green-white flowers, which are followed by purple-red, plum-shaped fruits.
1992 Weekend Post 12 Dec. 10Five indigenous wild plum trees chopped down in Bird Street were removed because they were dangerous to passers-by.
1994 G. Bisseker in Weekend Post 12 Nov. (Leisure) 6The popular Harpephyllum caffrum (Transkei wild plum), formerly known as kaffir plum.
1910 E. London Dispatch 27 May 5 (Pettman)Chief of which are the Burchellia (wild pomegranate).
1951 N.L. King Tree-Planting 66Burchellia bulbalina (capensis) (Wild pomegranate), A handsome shrub widely distributed in moist forests from south-western Cape to Natal. Bears bright red flowers in profusion. Best suited to moist localities where frosts are not severe. Grows best in partial shade.
1966 E. Palmer Plains of Camdeboo 155Springbuck have always loved the Karoo. They have grown sleek on the..wild pomegranates of the koppies.
1977 E. Palmer Field Guide to Trees of Sn Afr. 285Rhigozum, Four Southern African species, three sometimes small twiggy trees...All species browsed, thus often kept to shrub size. Commonly called wild pomegranate or wildegranaat.
1731 G. Medley tr. of P. Kolben’s Present State of Cape of G.H. I. 309They take..the Powders or Infusions of but a very few Things; namely, Wild Sage, Wild Figs and Fig-leaves, Buchu, [etc.].
1866 Lindley & Moore Treasury of BotanyWild Sage, a name in the Cape colony for Tarchonanthus camphoratus.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 560Wild sage,..Salvia africana, L.
1966 C.A. Smith Common Names 510Wild sage, A general name for several species of Salvia...The vernacular name is in allusion to the resemblance of the native species to the European sage (S. officinalis).
1955 A. Delius Young Trav. in S. Afr. 142They don’t eat much beyond mealie-meal, wild spinach and milk, with, say, meat about twice a month.
1988 E. Mphahlele Renewal Time 164At Easter time so many of us went home..to eat chicken and sour milk and morogo — wild spinach.
1989 D. Baloyi in Our Living World 2nd Quarter 7Morogo (wild spinach) was much distasteful on my tongue.
1990 R. Malan My Traitor’s Heart 150As a child, she used to hang around the cane-cutters’ shacks, sharing the wild spinach and putu they cooked in iron pots on open fires.
1991 D.M. Moore Garden Earth 198The wild watermelon, or ‘tsamma’ melon (Citrullus lanatus).
1822, 1987wild wormwood: [see wilde als wilde sense 1].
b. In the names of animals:
wild ass obsolete [perhaps translation of South African Dutch wilde ezel], the quagga (sense 1 a i), Equus quagga;
wild cat, any of several small predatory felines of the Felidae, especially Felis lybica; see also tiger-cat;
wild dog, the mammal Lycaon pictus of the Canidae; Cape hunting dog, see Cape sense 2 a;
wild horse obsolete [probably translation of South African Dutch wildepaard, see wilde sense b], any of several species of zebra, especially the mountain zebra (sense (a) see mountain), Equus zebra zebra.
[1688wild ass: G. Tachard Voy. to Siam II. 65As for the Asses, they are of all colours, they have a long blew list on the back that reaches from head to tail, and the rest of the body like the horse, full of pretty broad streaks, blew, yellow, green, black and white, all very lively.]
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. round World I. 533There is a very beautiful sort of wild Ass in this Country, whose body is curiously striped with equal lists of white and black: the stripes coming from the ridge of his Back.
1731 G. Medley tr. of P. Kolben’s Present State of Cape of G.H. II. 113The Cape Wild Ass is one of the most beautiful Animals that ever I beheld. His Size is that of an ordinary Saddle-Horse...There runs on the Ridge of his Back, from the Mane to the Tail, a black Streak. From this black Streak there run down, on each Side of him, a great many Streaks of various Colours, meeting under his Belly in so many Circles. Some of these circling Streaks are white, some yellow, and some of Chestnut-Colour.
1786 G. Forster tr. of A. Sparrman’s Voy. to Cape of G.H. I.I have seen buffaloes and wild asses (quagga) sometimes make a stand in the same manner.
1827 G. Thompson Trav. 139Hunting the wild game, to save the consumption of their flocks, and feeding their Hottentot or Bushmen servants, with the flesh of the Quagha, or wild ass.
1828 T. Pringle Ephemerides 88The mighty rhinoceros wallows at will In the vlei where the wild-ass is drinking his fill.
1839 W.C. Harris Wild Sports 55Small troops of striped quaggas or wild asses, and of brindled gnoos..enlivened the scene.
1821 G. Barker Journal. 11 JulyA wild cat got into the hen house last night & killed a hen.
1827 G. Thompson Trav. 162We met about a hundred Bechuanas of the Karriharri tribe, on their way to Griqua Town to barter mantles of wild-cat and jackal skins, for beads, buttons, &c.
1860 T. Shone Diary. 6 Nov.The wild cat eat a hen and 14 Eggs.
a1867 C.J. Andersson Notes of Trav. (1875) 162A visit from a lion was, on the whole, a rare event; but leopards, chetahs [sic], lynxes (generally known as wild cats), paid frequent visits to the sheep-folds.
a1867 C.J. Andersson Notes of Trav. (1875) 187The wild cat (Felus Catus) was common in the neighbourhood of Otjimbingue.
1910 C. Meredith Peggy of Cape Town 45Peggy noticed that he had the skin of a wild cat, which he had found in the hills and killed.
1966 E. Palmer Plains of Camdeboo 223All the quick, sharp-toothed creatures of the veld such as mongoose, meerkat, honey-badger, wild cat [etc.].
1990 Skinner & Smithers Mammals of Sn Afr. Subregion 411The African wild cat, F. lybica, differs from the European wild cat, F. silvestris, but there is still some disagreement about the genetic basis for this.
1731 G. Medley tr. of P. Kolben’s Present State of Cape of G.H. II. 65Among the Cattle.., the Wild Beasts, as Lions, Tigers, and Wild Dogs &c, make sometimes great Depredations.
1786 G. Forster tr. of A. Sparrman’s Voy. to Cape of G.H. I. 157These wild dogs are some of the most pernicious beasts of prey.
1821 C.I. Latrobe Jrnl of Visit 124The wild-dogs go in packs, are very bold and mischievous, and will attack oxen, horses and sheep, in spite of watch-men and dogs.
1833 Graham’s Town Jrnl 4 July 2Wild animals..have increased..greatly within the last few years — particularly the Wolf and Wild Dog.
1849 J.D. Lewins Diary. 11The wild dogs have broken in upon us. Killed two cows & reduced a bull to the neuter gender.
1878 A. Aylward Tvl of Today 244Wild dogs are dangerous when met in troops, being, I believe, the only African animal that wilfully and unnecessarily seeks an encounter with man.
1908 J.M. Orpen Reminisc. (1964) 30The jackals, wolves (i.e., hyenas) and wild dogs were very numerous and troublesome.
1966 I. Vaughan These Were my Yesterdays 151Wild dogs, looking like small wolves chased them in cart and horses.
1976 A. Delius Border 69One went down fighting, bucking, charging to the last against a pack of wild dogs.
1981 Sunday Times 12 July 27The Cape wild dog..was plentiful in the area earlier this century but the last ones were shot out about 30 years ago after they were declared vermin.
1988 Quagga No.20, 19As one of South Africa’s three endangered mammals (with Riverine Rabbit and Wild Dog), the Roan Antelope is of special concern.
1834 T. Pringle Afr. Sketches 14The buffalo bendeth to my yoke, The wild-horse to my rein.
1838 J.E. Alexander Exped. into Int. I. 215The wild horse, zebra, and quagga, nearly resemble each other: the first is striped all over;..its feet are hard and compact, for its resort is the stony mountains.
1841 B. Shaw Memorials 316The zebra is beautifully striped with dark bands on every part of its body except the legs, which are white, and is usually seen on the extensive plains. Very similar in appearance are the wild horse and the quagga.
any of several species of Dovyalis of the Flacourtiaceae, especially D. caffra; see also Kei apple (Kei sense 1);
any of several species of Diospyros of the Ebenaceae; see also jakkalsbessie;
Brabejum stellatifolium of the Proteaceae; wild almond;
Calodendrum capense of the Rutaceae;
the small deciduous tree Dombeya rotundifolia of the Sterculiaceae (cacao family); the wood of this tree; also called wild plum (sense (d), see below);
any of several trees of the Ochnaceae, especially Ochna pulchra;
Harpephyllum caffrum; formerly also called kaffir plum (see kaffir noun sense 2 e); its fruit;
Pappea capensis of the Sapindaceae, valued for the shade and sustenance it offers in arid areas; its fruit;
Bequaertiodendron magalismontanum; also called stamvrug; the fruit of this tree;
the wild pear (sense (a), see above), Dombeya rotundifolia; the fruit of this tree;
the amatungulu, Carissa macrocarpa;
the moretlwa, Grewia flava;
the moisture-loving shrub Burchellia bubalina of the Rubiaceae;
any of several species of Rhigozum of the Bignoniaceae, especially the small twiggy tree R. obovatum;
the vaalbos (sense 1 a), Tarchonanthus camphoratus;