wrack

wrack · noun, verb¹

1. Old English · inherited fromwrǣċ“vengeance, revenge”
2. Old English · inherited fromwracu
3. Middle English · inherited fromwrake
4. English todaywrack

From Middle English wrake, wrache, wreche, from a merger of Old English wracu, wræc (“misery, suffering”) and Old English wrǣċ (“vengeance, revenge”). See also wrake.

wrack · noun, verb²

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*wrekaną“to drive out”
2. Middle Dutch · derived fromwrak
3. English todaywrack

Late Middle English, from Middle Dutch wrak, ultimately related to Proto-Germanic *wrekaną (“to drive out”), the source of wreak and wreck. Doublet of vraic. Cognate with German Wrack, Old Norse rek, Danish vrag, Swedish vrak, Old English wræc); also compare Gothic 𐍅𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (wrikan), 𐍅𐍂𐌰𐌺𐌾𐌰𐌽 (wrakjan, “persecute”), Old Norse reka (“drive”).

Words from the same roots