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1063 entries found
wreath (n.)
Old English wriða "fillet, bandage, band" (literally "that which is wound around"), from Proto-Germanic *writh- (source also of Old Norse riða, Danish vride, Old High German ridan "to turn, twist," Old Saxon, Old Frisian wreth "angry," Dutch wreed "rough, harsh, cruel," Old High German reid "twisted," Old Norse reiða "angry"), from PIE *wreit- "to turn, bend" (source also of Old English wriða "band," wriðan "to twist, torture," wraþ "angry"), from root *wer- (2) "to turn, bend." Meaning "ring or garland of flowers or vines" is first recorded 1560s.
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wreathe (v.)
1520s (transitive), a back-formation from wrethen, Middle English past participle of writhe. Intransitive sense from 1580s. Related: Wreathed; wreathing.
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wreck (v.)
"to destroy, ruin," c. 1500, from wreck (n.). Earlier (12c.) it meant "drive out or away, remove;" also "take vengeance." Intransitive sense from 1670s. Related: Wrecked; wrecking.
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wreck (n.)
early 13c., "goods cast ashore after a shipwreck, flotsam," from Anglo-French wrec, from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse *wrek "wreck, flotsam" (source also of Norwegian, Icelandic rek), related to reka "to drive, push," from Proto-Germanic *wrekan (see wreak (v.)). The meaning "a shipwreck" is first recorded mid-15c.; that of "a wrecked ship" is by c. 1500. General sense of "remains of anything that has been ruined" is recorded from 1713; applied by 1795 to dissipated persons. Compare wrack (v.).
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wreckage (n.)
1814, "fact of being wrecked," from wreck (v.) + -age. Meaning "remains of a wrecked thing" is from 1832.
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wrecker (n.)
1804, in reference to those who salvage cargos from wrecked ships, from wreck (n.). In Britain often with a overtones of "one who causes a shipwreck in order to plunder it" (1820); but in 19c. Bahamas and the Florida Keys it could be a legal occupation. Applied to those who wreck and plunder institutions from 1882. Meaning "demolition worker" attested by 1958. As a type of ship employed in salvage operations, from 1789. As a railway vehicle with a crane or hoist, from 1904.
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wren (n.)
small, migratory singing bird, Old English wrenna, metathesis variation of earlier werna, a Germanic word of uncertain origin. Compare Icelandic rindill, Old High German wrendo, wrendilo "wren."
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wrench (n.)
Old English wrenc "a twisting, artifice, trick;" see wrench (v.). The meaning "tool with jaws at one end for turning or holding" is first recorded 1794.
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wrench (v.)
Old English wrencan "to twist," from Proto-Germanic *wrankjan (source also of Old High German renken, German renken "to twist, wrench," Old English wringan "to wring"), from PIE *wreng- "to turn" (source also of Sanskrit vrnakti "turns, twists," Lithuanian rengtis "to grow crooked, to writhe"), nasalized variant of *werg- "to turn" (source also of Latin vergere "to turn, tend toward"), from root *wer- (2) "to turn, bend." Related: Wrenched, wrenching.
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wrest (v.)
Old English wræstan "to twist, wrench," from Proto-Germanic *wraistjan (source of Old Norse reista "to bend, twist"), from *wreik- "to turn," from PIE root *wer- (2) "to turn, bend." Meaning "to pull, detach" (something) is recorded from c. 1300. Meaning "to take by force" (in reference to power, authority, etc.) is attested from early 15c. Related: Wrested; wresting.
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