English
playwright
From play + wright (“builder, craftsman”).
A compound of play + wright ‘builder, craftsman’
Proto-West Germanic *plegō ‘an exercise’
Proto-West Germanic *plegōn ‘to move; to engage, practice’
Old English plegian ‘to play’
Middle English pleyen ‘to engage in a game or sport’
English play
Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- ‘to make’
…
Proto-West Germanic *wurhti ‘deed, act’
Proto-West Germanic *wurhtijō ‘worker, workman’
Old English wyrhta ‘worker, maker’
Middle English wrighte
English wright
Today it means
noun A writer and creator of theatrical plays.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / playwright