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Origin and history of wring

wring(v.)

Middle English wringen, "twist and squeeze (a garment, something flexible) in the hands so as to press out liquid from it," from Old English wringan (class III strong verb; past tense wrang, past participle wrungen), from Proto-Germanic *wreng-, which according to Watkins is from a nasalized variant of *wergh- "to turn," from PIE root *wer- (2) "to turn, bend."

The sense of "torture or affect painfully" as if by wringing is from late 14c. To wring (one's) hands "press the hands or fingers tightly together" as though wringing them, as an indication of distress or pain, is attested from c. 1200. Wringing wet "so wet as to require wringing" is by mid-15c.

Germanic cognates include Old English wringen "to wring, press out," Old Frisian wringa, Middle Dutch wringhen, Dutch wringen "to wring," Old High German ringan "to move to and fro, to twist," German ringen "to wrestle."

Entries linking to wring

wringer(n.)

"device for squeezing water from clothes," 1799, agent noun from wring (v.). Earlier of a person whose occupation is to wring clothes after washing (1590s) or wring juice from grapes (late 14c.). Earlier still it meant "miser" or "extortioner" (mid-14c.).

The figurative phrase to put (someone) through the wringer "give a hard time to" is recorded by 1921, American English, earlier as a figurative way to say "dry (someone) out," in reference to the clothes-wringer, which is not properly a "wringer," as the garments are passed between rollers rather than being wrung.

wrinkle(v.)

c. 1400, wrinklen, "cause to become corrugated, form wrinkles in" (transitive), probably from stem of late Old English gewrinclod "wrinkled, crooked, winding," past participle of gewrinclian "to wind, crease," from perfective prefix ge- + -wrinclian "to wind," from Proto-Germanic *wrankjan. This according to Watkins is from a nasalized variant of *wergh- "to turn" (see wring (v.)).

The intransitive sense of "undergo contraction so as to pucker" is from 1610s. Related: Wrinkled; wrinkling.

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More to explore

squeeze
c. 1600, "press forcibly" (transitive), perhaps an alteration of quease (Middle English quisen), from Old English cwysan "to squeeze," a word of unknown origin, perhaps imitative (compare German quetschen "to squeeze"). It perhaps also has been altered by influence of many words
extort
1520s, "obtain by force or compulsion; wrest away by oppressive means," from Latin extortus, past participle of extorquere "obtain by force," literally "to wrench out," from ex "out" (see ex-) + torquere "to twist" (from PIE root *terkw- "to twist"). Related: Extorted; extorting.
wrench
Proto-Germanic *wrankjan (source also of Old High German renken, German renken "to twist, wrench," Old English wringan "to wring...
twist
c. 1200 (implied in past tense form twaste), "to wring," from twist (n.)....
motion
late 14c., mocioun, "process of moving; change of place, continuous variation of position;" also "suggestion, proposal or proposition formally made," from Old French mocion "movement, motion; change, alteration" (13c., Modern French motion) and directly from Latin motionem (nomin
movement
late 14c., mevement, "change of position; passage from place to place," from Old French movement "movement, exercise; start, instigation" (Modern French mouvement), from Medieval Latin movimentum, from Latin movere "to move, set in motion" (from PIE root *meue- "to push away"). I
crush
mid-14c., "smash, shatter, break into fragments or small particles; force down and bruise by heavy weight," also figuratively, "overpower, subdue," from Old French cruissir (Modern French écraser), variant of croissir "to gnash (teeth), crash, smash, break," which is perhaps from
pluck
Middle English plukken, "pull (something) off or out from a surface" (especially hair or feathers, but also teeth), from late Old English ploccian, pluccian "pull off, cull," from West Germanic *plokken (source also of Middle Low German plucken, Middle Dutch plocken, Dutch plukke
soak
Middle English soken, from Old English socian (intransitive) "to soak, to lie in liquid," from Proto-Germanic *sukon (source also of West Flemish soken), possibly from PIE root *seue- (2) "to take liquid" (see sup (v.2)). The Old English word is a secondary form of sucan (past pa

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