wreak

Signification

Verb

1. To cause harm; to afflict; to inflict; to harm or injure; to let out harm.
2. To chasten, or chastise/chastize, or castigate, or punish, or smite.
3. To inflict or take vengeance on.
4. To take vengeance for.
5. Misspelling of reek.

Noun

1. Revenge; vengeance; furious passion; resentment.
2. Punishment; retribution; payback.

Prononcé comme (IPA)

/ɹiːk/

Étymologie

From Middle English wreken, from Old English wrecan, from Proto-West Germanic *wrekan, from Proto-Germanic *wrekaną, from Proto-Indo-European *wreg- (“push, shove, drive, track down”). Cognate via Proto-Germanic with Dutch wreken, German rächen, Swedish vräka; cognate via PIE with Latin urgēre (English urge), and distantly cognate with English wreck.