Bosworth Toller's

Anglo-Saxon

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wrǽc

  • noun [ feminine ]
Dictionary links
Grammar
wrǽc, e; f.
Wright's OE grammar
§376;
Vengeance. This form seems to be implied by later English forms, e. g. Þatt was mikell wræche, þatt all follc for till helle,
    Orm. 19
; don wreche (rimes with speche, leache, teche),
    Misc. 143, 56
; tak wreche (rimes with preche),
    Alis. 2858
: but there appears to be no instance in Old English of a nominative wrǽc which is certainly feminine ; where the gender of a nominative wræc is marked it is neuter. Some of the oblique cases given under wracu and wrǽc might belong to the word and perhaps the following passage
Show examples

  • Hió cwǽdon :'Sió his blód and his blódes wrǽc ofer ús and ofer úre bearn,

      H. R. 7, 23.
Etymology
[
Gif þu heuedest wreche inumen,
    O. E. Homl. i. 197, 107.
Unwreste þu best, gef þu wreche ne secst,
    ii. 29, 25 : Laym. 29581.
Min is þe wreche (wrake, v. l.) mihi vindictam,
    A. R. 186, 1.
Cam on werlde wreche and wrake,
    Gen. and Ex. 552.
He heþ ynome tó lite wreche,
    Ayenb. 45, 28.
O. H. Ger. ráhha vindicta, ultio.
Cf. Goth. wrékei persecution.
]
Entry information
Citation

Bosworth, Joseph. “wrǽc.” In An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online, edited by Thomas Northcote Toller, Christ Sean, and Ondřej Tichy. Prague: Faculty of Arts, Charles University, 2014. https://bosworthtoller.com/36538.

Checked: 1
Full form

Word-wheel

  • wrǽc, n.

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