English
wrought
Wrought comes from Middle English worchen ‘to work’, from Old English wyrċan ‘to make’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *werǵ-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*werǵ-1‘to make’root named by Wiktionary
- Old Englishc. 450–1150wyrċan1‘to make’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500worchen1‘to work’
- Englishearliest quotation 1833wrought1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English wrought
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1833, Alfred Tennyson, Ulysses: “My mariners, / Souls that have toil'd, and wrought,…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*werǵ-Wiktionary, English wrought‘to make’root named by Wiktionary
- Old Englishc. 450–1150wyrċanWiktionary, English wrought‘to make’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500worchenWiktionary, English wrought‘to work’
- Englishearliest quotation 1833wroughtWiktionary, English wrought. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1833, Alfred Tennyson, Ulysses: “My mariners, / Souls that have toil'd, and wrought,…”
The story
The past participle of Middle English worchen (‘to work’), from Old English wyrċan (past tense worhte, past participle (ġe)worht; cf. also the metathetic variant (ġe)wroht), from Proto-West Germanic *wurkijan, from Proto-Germanic *wurkijaną (‘to work’), from Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- (‘to work’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- ‘to make’
working, energy, organic, organ, energetic, orgasm, allergy, wright, boulevard, liturgy, metallurgy, argon, bulwark, werk, erg, irk, irksome, wark, 21 more
through Old English wyrċan ‘to make’
through Middle English worchen ‘to work’
Today it means
adj Having been worked or prepared somehow.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “wrought”. 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-Indo-European *werǵ- / wrought