English
wry
Wry comes from Old English wrīġian ‘to go, turn, twist, bend, strive, struggle,…’.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150wrīġian‘to go, turn, twist, bend, strive, struggle, press forward, endeavor, venture’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wrien
- Englishearliest quotation 1535wry
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150wrīġian‘to go, turn, twist, bend, strive, struggle, press forward, endeavor, venture’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wrien
- Englishearliest quotation 1535wry
Earliest quotation: 1535, Thomas More: “God pricketh them of his great goodness still. And…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *wer- ‘to turn, bend’
wear, guard, ward, regard, con, garage, warn, worm, beware, garrison, verge, optic, ware, weir, panorama, reverence, revere, vermin, vermilion, prosaic, guaranty, diorama, milliner, varmint, vermicelli, vermeil, vermiculite, 68 more
through Proto-Indo-European *wreyḱ- ‘to turn, wrap, tie’
Today it means
adj Turned away, contorted (of the face or body).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old English wrīġian / wry