What is "wild man"

c.1200, "man lacking in self-restraint," from wild (adj.) + man (n.). From mid-13c. as "primitive, savage." Late 14c. as a surname.

n. 1 A primitive person who dwells outside of civilized society; a savage person without culture. 2 A violent, dissolute, rash, or rowdy person. 3 A person who advocates unorthodox or outrageous opinions or who behaves in an eccentric manner.

n. a person who is not socialized [syn: feral man]

The wild man (also wildman, or "wildman of the woods", archaically woodwose or wodewose) is a mythical figure that appears in the artwork and literature of medieval Europe, comparable to the satyr or faun type in classical mythology and to Silvanus, the Roman god of the woodlands.

The defining characteristic of the figure is its "wildness"; from the 12th century they were consistently depicted as being covered with hair. Images of wild men appear in the carved and painted roof bosses where intersecting ogee vaults meet in the Canterbury Cathedral, in positions where one is also likely to encounter the vegetal Green Man. The image of the wild man survived to appear as supporter for heraldic coats-of-arms, especially in Germany, well into the 16th century. Renaissance engravers in Germany and Italy were particularly fond of wild men, wild women, and wild families, with examples from Martin Schongauer (died 1491) and Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) among others.

The wild man is a figure of medieval European art, literature and folklore.

Wild man may also refer to:

• A name for bigfoot or sasquatch, or similar creatures
• Ishi (c. 1860–1916), "Wild Man of Oroville", the last member of the Yahi tribe of California
• Wild Man Fischer (1944–2011), American songwriter
• "Wild Man" (Kate Bush song), 2011
• "Wild Man" the 2005 sculpture by hyperrealistic artist Ron Mueck
• "Wild Man" (Ricky Van Shelton song)

"Wild Man" is a song written by Susan Longacre and Rick Giles, and recorded by American country music singer Ricky Van Shelton. It was released in October 1992 as the second single from his album Greatest Hits Plus. The song spent twenty weeks on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, where it peaked at number 5. It was his last Top Ten hit on the country music charts.

"Wild Man" is a song by Kate Bush released as the lead single from her tenth studio album 50 Words for Snow. It was released as a digital download single in the United Kingdom on 11 October 2011, and peaked at number 73 on the UK Singles Chart. "Wild Man" tells the story of sightings of the Yeti in the wilds of the Himalayas, and of the efforts by the narrator and others to protect him from discovery.