wrath

See also: wraþ and wrað

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English wraththe, wreththe, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old English wrǣþþu, wrǣþþo (“wrath, fury”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] 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^(key): /ɹɒθ/, /ɹæθ/
• Rhymes: -ɒθ, -æθ
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɹæθ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æθ
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ɹæθ/, /ɹɔθ/

Noun

wrath (usually uncountable, plural wraths)

1. (formal or old-fashioned) Great anger.

   Synonyms: fury, ire

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

   • 1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, book I, page 17:

     For when he knew his Rival freed and gone, / He ſwells with Wrath; he makes outrageous Moan: / He frets, he fumes, he ſtares, he ſtamps the Ground; / The hollow Tow'r with Clamours rings around: […]

   • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest:

     The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite. […] Can those harmless but refined fellow-diners be the selfish cads whose gluttony and personal appearance so raised your contemptuous wrath on your arrival?

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

     A revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

Usage notes

• The pronunciation with the vowel /æ/ is regarded as incorrect by many British English speakers.

Derived terms

• grapes of wrath
• wrathful

Translations

great anger

• Bashkir: асыу (asıw)
• Bulgarian: гняв (bg) (gnjav)
• Czech: hněv (cs) m
• Danish: vrede (da)
• Dutch: gramschap (nl) f, woede (nl) f, toorn (nl) m
• Estonian: viha (et), raev
• Finnish: viha (fi), raivo (fi)
• French: fureur (fr) f, courroux (fr) m, ire (fr) f, colère (fr) f
• Georgian: რისხვა (risxva), მძვინვარება (mʒvinvareba), გაშმაგება (gašmageba), გაცოფება (gacopeba), მრისხანება (mrisxaneba)
• German: Zorn (de) m, Wut (de) f
• Greek: οργή (el) f (orgí)

  Ancient: θυμός m (thumós), μηνιθμός m (mēnithmós) (Epic)

• Hungarian: düh (hu)
• Ido: iraco (io)
• Indonesian: murka (id)
• Italian: furore (it) m, collera (it) f, ira (it) f
• Japanese: 激怒 (ja) (げきど, gekido), 憤怒 (ja) (ふんぬ, funnu)
• Khmer: កំហឹងខ្លាំង (kɑmhəng klang)
• Korean: 성 (ko) (seong)
• Kurdish: , , , , , ,
• Ladin: sënn m
• Latin: īra (la)
• Latvian: dusmas
• Lithuanian: rūstybė f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Macedonian: гнев m (gnev), бес m (bes)
• Malay: kemarahan, kemurkaan
• Maori: ngana, nguha
• Mirandese: rábia f
• Ngazidja Comorian: utungu class 11/10a
• Norwegian: vrede (no) m, sinne (no) n
• Persian: وروت (fa) (vorut)
• Polish: gniew (pl) m
• Portuguese: cólera (pt) f, ira (pt) f
• Romanian: mânie (ro) f, furie (ro) f, urgie (ro) f
• Russian: гнев (ru) m (gnev)
• Sanskrit: क्रोध (sa) m (krodha)
• Scottish Gaelic: corraich f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: гне̑в m, ср̀џба f, ср̀дито̄ст f

  Latin: gnȇv (sh) m, sr̀džba (sh) f, sr̀ditōst (sh) f

• Spanish: cólera (es) f, ira (es) f
• Swahili: ghadhabu (sw)
• Swedish: vrede (sv) c
• Thai: โทสะ (too-sà)
• Turkish: gazap (tr), hiddet (tr)
• Vietnamese: thịnh nộ (vi)
• Welsh: dig (cy) m, llid (cy) m, llidiau m pl
• West Frisian: grime c

punishment as a revenge

• French: courroux (fr) m
• German: Vergeltung (de) f
• Latvian: atriebība f
• Lithuanian: kerštas m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Romanian: răzbunare (ro) f
• Russian: возме́здие (ru) n (vozmézdije)
• Spanish: castigo (es) m

References

• “wrath”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.

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.
(See the entry for “wrath”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Anagrams

• Warth, warth