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wholesome - 4 dictionary results

whole⋅some

  [hohl-suhm]
Use wholesome in a Sentence
–adjective
1. conducive to moral or general well-being; salutary; beneficial: wholesome recreation; wholesome environment.
2. conducive to bodily health; healthful; salubrious: wholesome food; wholesome air; wholesome exercise.
3. suggestive of physical or moral health, esp. in appearance.
4. healthy or sound.
Origin:
1150–1200; ME ho(o)lsom (see whole, -some 1 ); c. OHG heilsam, ON heilsamr

Related forms:
whole⋅some⋅ly, adverb
whole⋅some⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. helpful; good. 2. nourishing, nutritious. 2, 3. See healthy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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whole·some   (hōl'səm)   
adj.   whole·som·er, whole·som·est
  1. Conducive to sound health or well-being; salutary: simple, wholesome food; a wholesome climate.
  2. Promoting mental, moral, or social health: wholesome entertainment.
  3. Sound; healthy. See Synonyms at healthy.

[Middle English holsom, from Old English *hālsum; see kailo- in Indo-European roots.]
whole'some·ly adv., whole'some·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Wholesome

Whole"some\, a. [Compar. Wholesomer; superl. Wholesomest.] [Whole + some; cf. Icel. heilsamr, G. heilsam, D. heilzaam.]

1. Tending to promote health; favoring health; salubrious; salutary.

Wholesome thirst and appetite. --Milton.

From which the industrious poor derive an agreeable and wholesome variety of food. --A Smith.

2. Contributing to the health of the mind; favorable to morals, religion, or prosperity; conducive to good; salutary; sound; as, wholesome advice; wholesome doctrines; wholesome truths; wholesome laws.

A wholesome tongue is a tree of life. --Prov. xv. 4.

I can not . . . make you a wholesome answer; my wit's diseased. --Shak.

A wholesome suspicion began to be entertained. --Sir W. Scott.

3. Sound; healthy. [Obs.] --Shak. -- Whole"some*ly, adv. -- Whole"some*ness, n.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : wholesome
Spanish: sano, saludable,
German: gesund,
Japanese: 健康によい
More Translations »

wholesome 
c.1200, from whole (in the "healthy" sense) + -some. Originally in moral senses; physical sense first attested c.1374.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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