Wednesday, January 28, 2009

wanton

wanton \WON-tn\, adjective;
The plural is faunas or faunae.:

1. reckless, heartless, or malicious; without reason or excuse
2. not moral; lewd, lascivious

"Such (a) stand and attitude are leading to the grave, wanton violation of all the north-south agreements," the report said.
-- Kwang-Tae Kim, Denver Post, 2008-11-11
Ram raiders have smashed through the main admissions area of Royal North Shore Hospital, stealing the contents of an ATM and assaulting a man, in a rampage police have called "wanton bloody destruction".
-- Dylan Welch, The Sydney Morning Herald, 2008-11-11

c 1300, wan-towen, from Middle English privative prefix wan- "wanting, lacking" (from Old English wan "wanting") + togen/teon "to train, discipline;" literally "to pull, draw," from Proto Germanic *teuhan. The basic notion perhaps is "ill-bred, poorly brought up."

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