different between durst vs wurst

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d?st/
• Rhymes: -??(?)st

Verb

durst

1. (archaic, literary) simple past tense of dare
   • Traditional rhyme

     Four and twenty tailors went to kill a snail; the best man among them durst not touch her tail.

   • 1595, William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream Act 2, Scene 2, lines 82-83

     Pretty soul! She durst not lie / Near this lack-love, this kill-courtesy.

   • 1634, John Fletcher and William Shakespeare, The Two Noble Kinsmen Act 3, Scene 2

     That thou durst, Arcite!

   • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost Book I, line 49

     Who durst defy th' omnipotent to arms.

   • 1843, Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present, book 2, ch. 6, Monk Samson

     Coming home, therefore, I sat me down secretly under the Shrine of St. Edmund, fearing lest our Lord Abbot should seize and imprison me, though I had done no mischief; nor was there a monk who durst speak to me, nor a laic who durst bring me food except by stealth.

   • 1883: Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island

     Captain Smollett, the squire, and Dr. Livesey were talking together on the quarter-deck, and, anxious as I was to tell them my story, I durst not interrupt them openly.

   • 1896, A. E. Housman, A Shropshire Lad, XXX, lines 1-2:

     Others, I am not the first,

     Have willed more mischief than they durst

Usage notes

• The second-person singular (thou being the subject) no longer adds -est (as it did in Early Modern English).

Derived terms

• durstn't/dursn't/dursen't

Anagrams

• turds

English

Alternative forms

• würst

Etymology

[1890] Borrowed from German Wurst (“sausage, wurst”), from Middle High German wurst, from Old High German wurst, from Proto-Germanic *wurstiz (“something turned or twisted”), from Proto-Indo-European *wert-, *werd- (“to turn”). Akin to Old Saxon worst (“wurst”), Old English weorþan (“to turn, become”). Doublet of wors. Unrelated to worsted (“type of yarn”). More at worth (“to be, become, betide”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /w?st/, /v?st/, /v??st/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /w??st/, /v??st/, /v??st/
• Homophone: worst (one pronunciation)
• Rhymes: -??(?)st

Noun

wurst (plural wursts)

1. A German- or Austrian-style sausage.
   • 2011, Dardis McNamee, Frommer's Austria

     In summer, you're welcomed into a flower-decked garden set against a backdrop of ancient vineyards. You can fill up your platter with some of the best wursts and roast meats (especially the delectable pork), along with freshly made salads.

Translations

Derived terms

• blood wurst
• liverwurst

German

Alternative forms

• wurscht, Wurst

Pronunciation

Adverb

wurst

1. (colloquial) anyway, anyhow

Synonyms

• egal
• schnuppe

Further reading

• “wurst” in Duden online