Etymograph

English

wrongwise

Wrongwise comes from Old English wrangwīs ‘wrongous, rough, uneven’, from Proto-Germanic *wrangaz ‘twisted, warped, bent, crooked, wry’, and ultimately from *wringaną.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wringaną1‘to wring, twist’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wrangaz2‘twisted, warped, bent, crooked, wry’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wrang2reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150wrang3‘wrong’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150wrangwīs4‘wrongous, rough, uneven’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wrongwis5
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1903wrongwise5

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *wrangaz
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English wrang
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old English wrangwis
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Middle English wrongwis
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English wrongwise
  6. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1903, Everybody's Magazine: “Being ruffled and the fur of his sensibilities being…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wringanąWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *wrangaz‘to wring, twist’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wrangazWiktionary, Old English wrang‘twisted, warped, bent, crooked, wry’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wrangWiktionary, Old English wrangreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150wrangWiktionary, Old English wrangwis‘wrong’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150wrangwīsWiktionary, Middle English wrongwis‘wrongous, rough, uneven’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wrongwisWiktionary, English wrongwise
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1903wrongwiseWiktionary, English wrongwise. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1903, Everybody's Magazine: “Being ruffled and the fur of his sensibilities being…”

Formed from wrong + -wise

Old English wrang ‘wrong, twisted, uneven’

Middle English wrong

English wrong

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *wringaną ‘to wring, twist’

wrench, wring, 4 more

through Old English wrang ‘wrong’

wrongfully, 3 more

Today it means

adv In a wrong way or manner.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “wrongwise”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *wrangaz, Old English wrang, Old English wrangwis, Middle English wrongwis. 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 *wringaną / wrongwise

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