Today's Word "Wrought"
Published in Vocabulary
wrought \rat\ (adjective) - Worked, crafted, done.
"The antiqued knotty pine shelf was wrought by my freat-grandfather back when 'wrought' was the only participle for 'work.'"
Middle English wroght, Old English geworht, the past participle of wyrcan "to work" and the origin of "work," as well. The same root *werg developed into Greek ergon "work" found in "ergonomics" and "surgery," from Latin "chirurgia" from Greek kheirourgia "hand-work" based on kheir "hand" + erg- "work" + ia, noun suffix. The o-grade, *org-, turns up in Greek organ "tool" and orgia "sacred rite," the origin of "orgy." Today's word is an archaic form for "worked" but it is still used fairly widely, e.g. overwrought "overworked, worked up," wrought up "worked up," and "wrought iron." The archaic noun has been crystallized in several words such as "wheelwright," "shipwright," and "playwright," which is unrelated to "write" but rather a Greek loan translation based on dramaturge from drama + ergon "work."
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