Source etymology 1
Original entry ↗The act of wresting; a wrench or twist; distortion. · A key to tune a stringed instrument. · Active or motive power. · Ellipsis of saw wrest (“a hand tool for setting the teeth of a saw, determining the width of the kerf”); a saw set.
To pull or twist violently. · To obtain by pulling or violent force. · To seize. · To distort, to pervert, to twist.
From Middle English wresten, wrasten, wræsten, from Old English wrǣstan (“to twist forcibly, wrench”), from Proto-Germanic *wraistijaną, (compare Proto-Germanic *wrīhaną (“to turn, wind; to cover, envelop”), *wrīþaną (“to weave, twist”), Old Norse reista (“to bend, twist”)), from a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *wreiḱ-, *wreyḱ- (“to bend, twist”), *wreyt- (“to bend”). See also writhe, wry. The noun is derived from the verb.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
This page abbreviates 1 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "wresten"
},
"expansion": "Middle English wresten"
},
{
"name": "inh",
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"2": "ang",
"3": "wrǣstan",
"t": "to twist forcibly, wrench"
},
"expansion": "Old English wrǣstan (“to twist forcibly, wrench”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
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"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*wraistijaną"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *wraistijaną"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "gem-pro",
"2": "*wrīhaną",
"t": "to turn, wind; to cover, envelop"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *wrīhaną (“to turn, wind; to cover, envelop”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
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"2": "reista",
"t": "to bend, twist"
},
"expansion": "Old Norse reista (“to bend, twist”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*wreiḱ-"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *wreiḱ-"
},
{
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"expansion": "¹"
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],
"links": [
[
"wresten",
"wresten#Middle_English"
],
[
"wrasten",
"wrasten#Middle_English"
],
[
"wræsten",
"wræsten#Middle_English"
],
[
"wrǣstan",
"wræstan#Old_English"
],
[
"*wraistijaną",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/wraistijaną"
],
[
"*wrīhaną",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/wrīhaną"
],
[
"*wrīþaną",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/wrīþaną"
],
[
"reista",
"reista#Old_Norse"
],
[
"*wreiḱ-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/wreiḱ-"
],
[
"*wreyḱ-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/wreyḱ-"
],
[
"*wreyt-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/wreyt-"
],
[
"writhe",
"writhe#English"
],
[
"wry",
"wry#English"
]
],
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"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"The act of wresting; a wrench or twist; distortion.",
"A key to tune a stringed instrument.",
"Active or motive power.",
"Ellipsis of saw wrest (“a hand tool for setting the teeth of a saw, determining the width of the kerf”); a saw set."
],
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"abbreviation",
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},
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To pull or twist violently.",
"To obtain by pulling or violent force.",
"To seize.",
"To distort, to pervert, to twist."
],
"tags": [
"transitive",
"figuratively"
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