"W" Word Origins

wrestler

Middle English

From Middle English wrastlere, equivalent to wrestle + -er.

wrestling

Origin

From late Old English wræstlung.

wretch

Middle English

From Middle English wrecche, from Old English wreċċa (“exile, outcast”), from Proto-Germanic *wrakjô (“exile, fugitive, warrior”), from Proto-Indo-European *wreg- (“to track, follow”). Doublet of garçon.

wretched

Middle English

From Middle English wrecched (“(adjective) characterized by or suffering hardship or misfortune, miserable, unfortunate, unhappy; indigent, poor; of low economic or social status, lowly; (noun) miserable person”) [and other forms], from wrecche (“characterized by or suffering hardship or misfortune, miserable, unfortunate, unhappy; indigent, poor; of low economic or social status, lowly; base, contemptible, vile; reprehensible, wicked; miserly, stingy; of little importance, paltry, worthless”) (from Late Old English wrecc, from Old English wreċċa (“an exile, outcast”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wreg- (“to follow, track; to hunt”)) + -ed (suffix forming adjectives). The English word is analysable as wretch (“(obsolete) wretched”, adjective) + -ed (suffix forming adjectives).

wretchedness

Origin

From Middle English wrecchednesse; equivalent to wretched + -ness.

wretchock

Origin

From wretch + -ock (“diminutive suffix”).

wrick

Origin

From Middle English wricken, probably from Middle Dutch wricken (Modern Dutch wrikken (“to wriggle”)) or Middle Low German wricken (“to move jerkily; sprain”), from Proto-Germanic *wrigōną (“to wriggle”), from Proto-Indo-European *wreyḱ- (“to turn, wrap, tie”), from *wer- (“to turn, bend”). See also Low German wriggen, German Low German wricken (“to row; scull; move back and forth”)). Compare also Danish vrikke (“to move; turn; wriggle”), Swedish vricka (“to sprain; twist; scull”).

wriggle

Origin

From wrig + -le (frequentative suffix). Compare Dutch wriggelen (“to wriggle, squirm”), Low German wriggeln (“to wriggle”). Related to Old English wrigian (“to turn, wend, hie, go move”), from Proto-Germanic *wrigōną (“to wriggle”).

wright

Old English

From Old English wyrhta, "worker, maker" — the same root seen in "wheelwright" and "playwright".

wring

Old English

From Old English wringan, "to squeeze, twist" — related to German ringen ("to wrestle, struggle").

wringer

Middle English

From Middle English wringere, equivalent to wring + -er.

wringing

Middle English

From Middle English wryngynge; equivalent to wring + -ing.

wrinkle

Middle English

From Middle English wrinkle, wrynkel (“crease, fold, wrinkle”), from the verb (see below). Cognate with Dutch wrinkel (“wrinkle, crease”). Compare also Middle English runkel (“wrinkle”), from Old Norse hrukka (“wrinkle”), from Proto-Germanic *hrunkwǭ (“wrinkle, crease”), whence also French fronce (“crooked smile, scowl, frown”), German Runzel (“wrinkle”), Danish rynke (“wrinkle”), Swedish rynka and rynkla (“wrinkle”).

wrinkly

Origin

From wrinkle + -y.

wrist

Middle English

From Middle English wrist, from Old English wrist, from Proto-West Germanic *wristu, from Proto-Germanic *wristuz (compare Old Frisian wrist, Low German Wrist, German Rist (“back of hand, instep, withers”), Swedish vrist), from Proto-Germanic *wrīþaną (“to twist, turn”). More at writhe.

wristband

Origin

From wrist + band.

wristbanding

Origin

From wristband + -ing.

wristlet

Origin

From wrist + -let (suffix indicating a piece of an object).

wristwatch

Origin

From wrist + watch.

writ

Old English

From Old English writ, "writing" — related directly to the verb "write".

write

Old English

From Old English wrītan, originally meaning "to carve" or "scratch marks" — writing began as scratching symbols into wood or stone.

writhe

Old English

From Old English wrīþan, "to twist or turn" — a close relative of "wreathe" and "wrist".

writhing

Middle English

From Middle English writhyng; equivalent to writhe + -ing.

writing

Middle English

From Middle English writing, writyng, wryting, wrytyng, from Old English wrīting (“writing”), equivalent to write + -ing.

written

Origin

Morphologically write + -en.

wrixle

Origin

From Middle English wrixlen, from Old English wrixlan, wixlan (“to change, exchange, reciprocate”), from Proto-Germanic *wihslijaną, *wihslōną (“to change”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyk-, *weyḱ- (“to change”). Cognate with Scots wissel (“to exchange, barter”), Dutch wisselen (“to exchange, barter, swap”), German wechseln (“to change, switch”), Icelandic víxl (“cross, interchange”), Latin vicis (“change, alteration, diversity, reciprocity”).

wrong

Old Norse

From Old Norse rangr, "crooked, wrong" — related to "wring", from an idea of something twisted out of true shape.

wrongdo

Origin

From wrong + do.

wrongdoer

Origin

From wrong + doer.

wrongdoing

Middle English

From Middle English wrong doyng, wrong doynge, wrong doinge, equivalent to wrong + doing.

wrongful

Middle English

From Middle English wrongful, equivalent to wrong + -ful.

wrongfully

Middle English

From Middle English wrongfully, wrongfullich; equivalent to wrongful + -ly.

wrongly

Middle English

From Middle English wrongly, wrongliche, equivalent to wrong + -ly.

wrote

Old English

Past tense of write, from Old English writan, originally meaning to scratch or incise.

wrought

Old English

The old past participle of "work" (from Old English wyrċan) — now mostly surviving in the phrase "wrought iron" and expressions like "wrought havoc".

wry

Old English

From Old English wrīgian, "to turn or twist," related to the word wriggle — the sense drifted from a literally twisted face to a twisted, ironic sense of humor.

wsg

English

An initialism of what's good.

wsp

English

An initialism of what's up.

wtf

Origin

(programming slang): Originated on The Daily WTF, a humorous blog dealing with real-world examples of bad programming.

WTW

English

An initialism of what's the word.

Wu

Chinese

A romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of the Chinese character 吳/吴, tied historically to the Wu region and its ancient kingdoms.

Wudang

Origin

From Mandarin 烏當 /乌当.

Wugong

Origin

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 武功 (Wǔgōng).

wujiang

Origin

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 吳江 /吴江 (Wújiāng, “Wu River”), after the once major Wusong River nearby.

wunna

Origin

From Igbo ụnụ. Compare Jamaican Creole unnu.

wuss

Origin · 1970

US college slang from the late 1970s, likely a blend of "wimp" and "puss," or shortened from "wussy."

wussy

Origin · 1960

From 1960s American slang, probably a blend of "wimp" and "pussy," or a shortening of the reduplicated "pussy-wussy."

WWJD

English

An initialism of the question "What would Jesus do?", popularised by evangelical youth culture through bracelets and other merchandise.