wrest

Etymology

This word came into English via Middle English wresten, wrasten or wræsten, which developed 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”, and Old Norse reista, “to bend, twist”), from a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *wreiḱ-, *wreyḱ- (“to bend, twist”), *wreyt- (“to bend”). See also writhe and wry. The noun comes from the verb.