vishet

From Old Swedish vishet, equivalent to vis +‎ -het. Compare German Weisheit, Dutch wijsheid.

vishet c

1. (uncountable) wisdom (the quality of being wise)

   Herrens fruktan är vishetens begynnelse.

   The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

   • 1918, Hjalmar Söderberg, Jahves eld [The Fire of Yahweh]‎^[1], Albert Bonniers förlag, accessed at Litteraturbanken.se, courtesy of Göteborgs universitetsbibliotek, archived from the original on 17 October 2025:

     Tanken på forna tiders dumhet jämförd med vår egen vishet utgör det förnämsta behaget i hela framåtskridandet.

     The thought of the stupidity of times past, compared with our own wisdom, is the greatest delight in all progress.

   • 2000, 1973 års bibelkommission [The Swedish Bible Commission of 1973], “Predikaren [Eccles.] 2:13”, in Bibel 2000‎^[2], © Svenska Bibelsällskapet, accessed at Bible.com, archived from the original on 17 October 2025:

     Jag såg att visheten är bättre än dårskapen, liksom ljuset är bättre än mörkret.

     I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness.

   • 2015 September 15, Inga-Lina Lindqvist, “Nära godheten [Close to Goodness]”, in Aftonbladet‎^[3], archived from the original on 17 October 2025:

     Är godhet ett tecken på naivitet eller vishet? Kommer godheten att frälsa eller förinta oss?

     Is goodness a sign of naivety or wisdom? Will goodness save us or annihilate us?

2. (countable) synonym of visdom

Språkrådet (The Language Council of Sweden) recommends distinguishing between vishet ("the quality of being wise") and visdom ("the knowledge or experience that wise people possess"),^[1] but the two are often conflated.

• klokhet

• vishet in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker