Wrought

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɹɔːt/
• Rhymes: -ɔːt

Origin

The past participle of Middle English werken ("to work"), from Old English wyrcan (past tense worhte, past participle geworht), from Proto-Germanic *wurkijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- ("to work"). Cognate with wright (as in wheelwright etc.), Dutch gewrocht, archaic past participle of werken (archaic past tense wrocht, archaic past part. gewrocht).

Full definition of wrought

Adjective

1. Having been worked or prepared somehow.Is that fence made out of wrought iron?

Antonyms

• unwrought

Derived terms

• wrought iron
• wrought-up

Verb

1. wrought

   (past of work)
• 2013-06-29, High and wet, Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale. The early, intense onset of the monsoon on June 14th swelled rivers, washing away roads, bridges, hotels and even whole villages. Rock-filled torrents smashed vehicles and homes, burying victims under rubble and sludge.

Usage notes

In modern English, wrought is usually not interchangeable with worked, the more common contemporary past and past participle of work.

Wrought often lends a more archaic flavor.

Hypothesis; It is rarely used with intransitive senses of work.

Because the phrase "work havoc" has become uncommon in modern English, its past tense "wrought havoc" is sometimes misinterpreted as being a past tense of "wreak havoc".

Derived terms

• overwrought