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wild·card or wild card

(wīldkärd′)

1. Games A playing card whose value can vary as determined by its holder.

2. Sports An athlete or team selected to compete in a tournament or playoff from among those who did not qualify by meeting the regular requirements.

3. Computers A symbol that stands for one or more unspecified characters, used especially in searching text and in selecting multiple files or directories.

4. Slang An unpredictable or unforeseeable factor: A surprise witness proved to be the wild card at the trial.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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