Etymograph

English

wrake

Wrake comes from Middle English wrake ‘vengeance, persecution, injury’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *wrakō.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wrakō1reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150wracu1‘revenge, persecution, misery, etc’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wrake1‘vengeance, persecution, injury’
  4. Englishtodaywrake1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English wrake

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wrakōWiktionary, English wrakereconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150wracuWiktionary, English wrake‘revenge, persecution, misery, etc’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wrakeWiktionary, English wrake‘vengeance, persecution, injury’
  4. EnglishtodaywrakeWiktionary, English wrake

Linked words

through Middle English wrake ‘vengeance, persecution, injury’

wrack

Today it means

noun Suffering which comes as a result of vengeance or retribution.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “wrake”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *wrakō / wrake

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