wrath

See also wraþ

English

Etymology

From Middle English wraththe, wreththe, from Old English wrǣþþu, wrǣþþo (“wrath, fury”), from Proto-Germanic *wraiþiþō (“wrath, fury”), equivalent to wroth +‎ -th. Compare Dutch wreedte (“cruelty”), Danish vrede (“anger”), Swedish vrede (“wrath, anger, ire”), Icelandic reiði (“anger”). More at wroth.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ɹɒθ/, /ɹæθ/, X-SAMPA: /r\QT/, /r\{T/
• Rhymes: -ɒθ, -æθ
• (US) IPA: /ɹæːθ/, /ɹæθ/, X-SAMPA: /r\O:T/, /r\OT/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æθ
• The pronunciation with the vowel IPA: /æ/ (X-SAMPA: /{/) is regarded as incorrect by many.

Noun

wrath (usually uncountable; plural wraths)

1. Great anger.

   Homer relates an episode in the Trojan War that reveals the tragic consequences of the wrath of Achilles.

2. (rare) Punishment.
   • Bible, Romans xiii. 4

     A revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

Synonyms

• (great anger): fury, ire

Derived terms

• grapes of wrath
• wrathful

Translations

great anger

• Czech: hněv (cs) m
• Dutch: gramschap (nl) f, woede (nl) f, toorn (nl) m
• Finnish: viha (fi), raivo (fi)
• French: fureur (fr) f
• German: Zorn (de) m, Wut (de) f
• Greek: οργή (el) (orgí) f
• Italian: furore (it) m, collera (it) f, ira (it) f
• Japanese: 激怒 (げきど、gekido), 憤怒 (ふんぬ)
• Khmer: កំហឹងខ្លាំង (km) (kɑmhəng klang)
• Korean: 성 (ko) (seong)
• Kurdish: xezeb (ku) f, gerûşe (ku) f, hêrs (ku) f, xişm (ku) f, kerb (ku) f, kîn (ku) f, qîn (ku) f
• Latin: ira
• Latvian: dusmas (lv)
• Lithuanian: rūstybė (lt) f

• Macedonian: гнев (mk) (gnev) m, бес (mk) (bes) m
• Malay: kemarahan (ms), kemurkaan (ms)
• Maori: ngana (mi)
• Mirandese: rábia f
• Norwegian: vrede (no) m, sinne (no) n
• Polish: gniew (pl) m
• Portuguese: cólera (pt) f, ira (pt) f
• Romanian: mânie (ro) f, furie (ro) f, urgie (ro) f
• Russian: гнев (ru) (gn'ev) m
• Scottish Gaelic: corraich (gd) f
• Serbo-Croatian: гнев (sh) (gnev) m, срџба (sh) (srdžba) f, срдитост (sh) (srditost) f
• Spanish: cólera (es) f, ira (es) f
• Swedish: vrede (sv) c
• Turkish: gazap (tr), hiddet (tr)
• West Frisian: grime (fy) c

punishment as a revenge

• French: courroux (fr) m
• Latvian: atriebība (lv) f

• Lithuanian: kerštas (lt) m
• Romanian: răzbunare (ro) f

Adjective

wrath (comparative more wrath, superlative most wrath)

1. (rare) Wrathful; very angry.

Verb

wrath (third-person singular simple present wraths, present participle wrathing, simple past and past participle wrathed)

1. (obsolete) To anger; to enrage.
   • (Can we find and add a quotation of Chaucer to this entry?)
   • (Can we find and add a quotation of Piers Plowman to this entry?)

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.