WantonWord for the Wise January 17, 2007 Broadcast Topic: Wanton We've been flirting for some time with the idea of devoting a program to the term wanton, and we have finally decided to indulge ourselves in that wicked, wicked word.
(来源：2hzz.
com)When wanton first appeared in English in the 14th century, it meant undisciplined, ungoverned, unmanageable, rebellious.
That sense was a natural outgrowth of its Old English ancestors, wan- meaning deficient; wrong plus towen, the past participle of the verb meaning to draw; train; discipline.
But the undisciplined sense of wanton faded over time, replaced by a series of more specific applications.
Over the centuries, wanton has been used to describe a boy childishly cruel or unruly, an animal skittish, refractory, or unmanageable, a person inclined to joking; carefree, or, alternatively, one given to self-indulgence and the enjoyment of luxury; voluptuous; and speech or imagination that is extravagant, impetuous, unrestrained.
While none of those specific applications proved to have staying power, the wildness and lack of control inherent in wanton lives on.
The more positive connotations of wanton are those meaning lewd; bawdy; lustful or sensual; the more negative ones mean merciless; inhumane; or having no just foundation or provocation.
Then, there's the somewhat neutral meaning associated with wanton: it can describe something without check or limitation, as something luxuriantly rank or unduly lavish.