Etymology

wring

W4R1I1N1G2

Today it means: Often followed by out: to squeeze or twist (something moist) tightly so that liquid is forced out. Full definition →

Middle English wring ← Old English wringan ← Proto-Germanic *wringaną
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wring · verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*wrenǵʰ-“to squeeze, wring”
  2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*wringaną“to squeeze, twist, wring”
  3. Old English · derived fromwringan“to wring”
  4. Middle English · inherited fromwring
  5. English todaywring

From Middle English wring, wringe, wringen, wryng, wrynge, wryngen, wryngyn, from Old English wringan (“to wring”), from Proto-Germanic *wringaną (“to squeeze, twist, wring”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *wrenǵʰ- (“to squeeze, wring”). Cognates Cognate with Scots wring (“to wring”), Saterland Frisian wringe (“to wring”), Dutch wringen (“to wring; to wrest; to writhe”), German ringen (“to wrestle; to struggle; to wring”), wringen (“to wring”), Luxembourgish réngen (“to grapple, wrestle”); also Ancient Greek ῥίμφα (rhímpha, “fast, nimbly, rapidly”), Lithuanian rangýti (“to roll up; to curl, twist, wave”).

wring · noun2

  1. Middle English · inherited fromwring
  2. English todaywring

Partly: * from Middle English wring, wringe (“twisting or wringing (of the neck)”), from Middle English wringen, wryngen (verb); and * from the modern English verb. See further at etymology 1.

wring · noun3

  1. Old English · inherited fromwringe
  2. Middle English · inherited fromwring
  3. English todaywring

From Middle English wring, wringe, wrynge (“a press, especially for olives or wine”) [and other forms], from Old English wringe, from wringan (verb): see further at etymology 1.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.