a., (sb.), and adv. [late OE. wunderfull, f. WONDER sb. + -FUL; cf. MLG. wonderfull, MSw. under(s)fulder.] A. adj.
1. Full of wonder; such as to excite wonder or astonishment; marvelous; sometimes used trivially = surprisingly large, fine, excellent, etc.
a. 1100. Aldhelm Gloss., I. 2757 (Napier 74/2). Stupendo, .i. mirando, mid wunderfulre, spectaculo, wæfersyne.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 177. Wunderliche ben þe sæ ut sondes, and wunderful is ure louerd on þeunesse.
c. 1275. Lay., 280. Hii funde … Þat ȝe mid one sone was wonderfol to telle.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 8575. God sende uor is luþernesse moni deoluol cas In þis lond & wonderuol.
1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 6404. Of þe day of dome … And of þe wondirful takens many, Þat salle falle byfor þat day.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 1355. There were wemen to wale, A wondurfull nowmbur.
a. 1425. Cursor M., 9314 (Trin.). Men shul him calle nomes sere Wondirful & counsellere.
c. 1450. Mirk’s Festial, 20. Þer God worcheth mony wondyrfull myracles for hym.
1508. Dunbar, Tua Mariit Wemen, 451. Wise women has … wonderfull gydingis,… to beiaip ther ielyus husbandis.
1555. Eden, Decades (Arb.), 49. The wonderfull and sumptuous woorke of the sepulcher whiche Artemisia made.
1596. J. Smythe, in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden), 91. Whereof ensued unto me … a wonderfull payne in my stomacke.
1611. Bible, Prov. xxx. 18. There be three things which are too wonderfull for me; yea foure, which I know not.
1632. Lithgow, Trav., IV. 134. They made a wonderfull massacre of poore afflicted Christians.
1779. Mrs. Delany, Lett. to Mrs. Port, 17 April. Give him the juice of clivers or goose grass, which is wonderfull, pounded with a little cold water.
1827. Carlyle, Misc., Richter (1872), I. 11. The unhappy man persuades himself that he has … become a new creature, of the wonderfulest symmetry.
1834. Dickens, Sk. Boz, Boarding-ho., ii. Mr. Tomkins … had a wonderful eye for the picturesque.
1840. Faber, Hymn, My God, how wonderful Thou art!
1880. Blackmore, Mary Anerley, xxxvi. II. 303. Every Sunday morning, he trimmed his whiskers, and put on a wonderful waistcoat.
1884. Ruskin, Pleas. Eng., iii. § 78. Robert Guiscard, the most wonderful soldier of that or any other time.
b. The wonderful: that which is wonderful. † Also sb. pl. wonderful things.
1727. De Foe, Syst. Magic, I. iii. (1840), 75. This temper of the people … drove the magicians … to a confederacy with the Devil for a supply of wonderfuls to delude the people.
1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, VIII. i. Every Writer may be permitted to deal as much in the Wonderful as he pleases.
1815. W. H. Ireland, Scribbleomania, 20. One unvarying predilection for the wonderful runs through the whole series of his poems.
† 2. Filled with wonder or admiration. Obs. rare.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 308. Makinge persones wondirful bi cause of here wynnyng.
1552. Huloet, Wonderfull,… admirabundus.
1583. Harsnet, Serm. Ezek., in R. Stuart’s Serm., etc. (1658), 132. The H[oly] Fathers are wonderfull in the contemplation of mans excellency at the first.
B. adv. = WONDERFULLY 1. Now dial.
c. 1400. Rowland & O., 50. Now come þam … wondirfull hasty tythande.
14[?]. Sir Beues (M.), 3866. A wonderffull gret route.
1531. Elyot, Gov., I. xi. (1883), I. 79. Cosmographie is to all noble men, nat only pleasant, but … wonderfull necessary.
1625. Bacon, Ess., Boldness (Arb.), 518. Wonderfull like is the Case of Boldnesse, in Ciuill Businesse.
1722. Hearne, Collect. (O.H.S.), VII. 381. Being full of wooden Cutts, wch makes the Book wonderfull curious.
1786. Burns, Twa Dogs, 84. They’re maistly wonderfu’ contented.
1885. ‘Mrs. Alexander,’ At Bay, ix. She was wonderful fond of Elsie.
