Wis"dom lit"er*a*ture. The class of ancient Hebrew writings which deal reflectively with general ethical and religious topics, as distinguished from the prophetic and liturgical literature, and from the law. It is comprised chiefly in the books of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiasticus, Ecclesiastes, and Wisdom of Solomon. The "wisdom" (Hokhmah) of these writings consists in detached sage utterances on concrete issues of life, without the effort at philosophical system that appeared in the later Hellenistic reflective writing beginning with Philo Judæus.
Wit"an (?), n. pl. [AS., pl. of wita sage, councilor.] Lit., wise men; specif. (A.-S. Hist.), the members of the national, or king's, council which sat to assist the king in administrative and judicial matters; also, the council.
Wolf"hound` (?), n. (Zoöl.) Originally, a large hound used in hunting wolves; now, any one of certain breeds of large dogs, some of which are nearly identical with the great Danes.
Wol"fram steel. Same as Tungsten steel.
Wol"las*ton's dou"blet (?). [After W. H. Wollaston, English physicist.] (Optics) A magnifying glass consisting of two plano-convex lenses. It is designed to correct spherical aberration and chromatic dispersion.
Wol`ver*ene" State. Michigan; -- a nickname.
Woman's Christian Temperance Union. An association of women formed in the United States in 1874, for the advancement of temperance by organizing preventive, educational, evangelistic, social, and legal work.
Wood gum. (Chem.) Xylan.
Wood hyacinth. A European squill (Scilla nonscripta) having a scape bearing a raceme of drooping blue, purple, white, or sometimes pink, bell-shaped flowers.
Wood partridge. (a) Any of several small partridges of Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and neighboring regions belonging to the genera Caloperdix, Rollulus, and Melanoperdix. (b) The Canada grouse. [Local, U. S.]
Word method. (Education) A method of teaching reading in which words are first taken as single ideograms and later analyzed into their phonetic and alphabetic elements; -- contrasted with the alphabet and sentence methods.
Word"play` (?), n. A more or less subtle playing upon the meaning of words.