Etymology

wreck

W4R1E1C3K5

Today it means: Something or someone that has been ruined. Full definition →

Middle English wrek ← Anglo-Norman wrek ← Old Norse *vrek
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The story

  1. Old Norse*vrek
  2. Anglo-Normanwrek
  3. Middle Englishwrek
  4. English todaywreck

From Middle English wrek, from Anglo-Norman wrek, from Old Norse *wrek (whence Norwegian rek, Icelandic rek, Swedish vrak, Danish vrag), from Proto-Germanic *wrekaną (“to pursue”, whence Old English wrecan (English wreak), Old Saxon wrekan, Old High German rëhhan, Gothic 𐍅𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (wrikan)), from Proto-Indo-European *wreg- (“to track; to hunt; to follow”).

Words from the same roots

Proto-Germanic*wrekaną all →

wreakwrack

Proto-Indo-European*wreg- all →

wretchwretchedwreakgarçon

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.