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Origin and history of wrangle

wrangle(v.)

late 14c. (early 14c. as a surname), wranglen, "contend (with) in a test of strength," also figurative, "dispute, argue noisily;" from Low German wrangeln "to dispute; to wrestle," related to Middle Low German wringen, from Proto-Germanic *wrang-, which according to Watkins is from a nasalized variant of *wergh- "to turn," from PIE root *wer- (2) "to turn, bend."

The meaning "take charge of horses or herd animals" is by 1897, American English. In the U.S. West, wrestle (v.) for "throw (cattle) for the purpose of branding" is attested by 1888. Related: Wrangled; wrangling. The noun is recorded from 1540s, "angry dispute, noisy quarrel."

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to wrangle

wrangler(n.)

1510s, "one who takes part in quarrels, angry debater, stubborn adversary," agent noun from wrangle (v.). The meaning "person in charge of horses or cattle, herder on a Western ranch" is from 1888; as a proprietary name for a brand of jeans, trademarked 1947, claiming use from 1929.

*wer-(2)

Proto-Indo-European root forming words meaning "to turn, bend."

It might form all or part of: adverse; anniversary; avert; awry; controversy; converge; converse (adj.) "exact opposite;" convert; diverge; divert; evert; extroversion; extrovert; gaiter; introrse; introvert; invert; inward; malversation; obverse; peevish; pervert; prose; raphe; reverberate; revert; rhabdomancy; rhapsody; rhombus; ribald; sinistrorse; stalwart; subvert; tergiversate; transverse; universe; verbena; verge (v.1) "tend, incline;" vermeil; vermicelli; vermicular; vermiform; vermin; versatile; verse (n.) "poetry;" version; verst; versus; vertebra; vertex; vertigo; vervain; vortex; -ward; warp; weird; worm; worry; worth (adj.) "significant, valuable, of value;" worth (v.) "to come to be;" wrangle; wrap; wrath; wreath; wrench; wrest; wrestle; wriggle; wring; wrinkle; wrist; writhe; wrong; wroth; wry.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit vartate "turns round, rolls;" Avestan varet- "to turn;" Hittite hurki- "wheel;" Greek rhatane "stirrer, ladle;" Latin vertere (frequentative versare) "to turn, turn back, be turned; convert, transform, translate; be changed," versus "turned toward or against;" Old Church Slavonic vrŭteti "to turn, roll," Russian vreteno "spindle, distaff;" Lithuanian verčiu, versti "to turn;" German werden, Old English weorðan "to become;" Old English -weard "toward," originally "turned toward," weorthan "to befall," wyrd "fate, destiny," literally "what befalls one;" Welsh gwerthyd "spindle, distaff;" Old Irish frith "against."

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    quarrel
    [angry dispute] mid-14c., querele, "dispute, altercation," also "ground for complaint," from Old French querele "matter, concern, business; dispute, controversy" (Modern French querelle) and directly from Latin querella "complaint, accusation; lamentation," from queri "to complai
    row
    "series of people or things in a more or less straight line," Middle English reue, from late Old English reawe, rewe, earlier ræw "a row, line; succession, hedge-row," probably from Proto-Germanic *rai(h)waz (source also of Middle Dutch rie, Dutch rij "row;" Old High German rihan
    forsake
    give up, renounce" (past tense forsoc, past participle forsacen), from for- "completely" + sacan "to struggle, dispute, wrangle...
    fight
    From c. 1200 as "offer resistance, struggle;" also "to quarrel, wrangle, create a disturbance."...
    difference
    mid-14c., "condition or relation of being other or different," also "any special mode of non-identity," from Old French difference "difference, distinction; argument, dispute" (12c.) and directly from Latin differentia "diversity, difference," from differentem (nominative differe
    altercation
    late 14c., altercacioun, "angry contention with words," from Old French altercacion "altercation" (12c.) and directly from Latin altercationem (nominative altercatio) "a dispute, debate, discussion," noun of action from past-participle stem of altercari "to dispute (with another)
    affray
    c. 1300, "fear, terror, state of alarm produced by a sudden disturbance," from Old French affrai, effrei, esfrei "disturbance, fright," from esfreer (v.) "to worry, concern, trouble, disturb," from Vulgar Latin *exfridare, a hybrid word meaning literally "to take out of peace." T
    herd
    Old English heord "herd, flock, company of domestic animals," also, rarely, "a keeping, care, custody," from Proto-Germanic *herdo (source also of Old Norse hjorð, Old High German herta, German Herde, Gothic hairda "herd"), from PIE *kerdh- "a row, group, herd" (source also of Sa
    past
    early 14c., "done with, over, existing no more," a variant of passed, past participle of passen "go by" (see pass (v.)). Meaning "gone by, belonging to a time previous to this" is from mid-14c. The grammatical sense of "expressing past action or state" is from 1520s; past partici
    taps
    U.S. military signal for lights out in soldiers' quarters (played 15 minutes after tattoo), by 1824, from plural of tap (n.2), on the notion of drum taps (the call originally was played on a drum, later on a bugle). As a soldier's last farewell, played over the grave, it may date

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