different between wrest vs ferret

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: r?st, IPA^(key): /??st/
• Rhymes: -?st
• Homophone: rest

Etymology 1

From Middle English wresten, wrasten, wræsten, from Old English wr?stan (“to twist forcibly, wrench”), from Proto-Germanic *wraistijan?, (compare Proto-Germanic *wr?han? (“to turn, wind; to cover, envelop”), *wr?þan? (“to weave, twist”), Old Norse reista (“to bend, twist”)), from a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *wrei?-, *wrey?- (“to bend, twist”), *wreyt- (“to bend”). See also writhe, wry.

The noun is derived from the verb.

Verb

wrest (third-person singular simple present wrests, present participle wresting, simple past and past participle wrested)

1. (transitive) To pull or twist violently.
2. (transitive) To obtain by pulling or violent force.
3. (transitive, figuratively) To seize.
4. (transitive, figuratively) To distort, to pervert, to twist.
5. (transitive, music) To tune with a wrest, or key.

Derived terms

• outwrest
• overwrest
• wrester

Related terms

• wrestle

Translations

Noun

wrest (plural wrests)

1. The act of wresting; a wrench or twist; distortion.
2. (music) A key to tune a stringed instrument.
3. (obsolete) Active or motive power.
4. (obsolete, rare) Short for saw wrest (“a hand tool for setting the teeth of a saw, determining the width of the kerf”); a saw set.

Derived terms

• saw wrest
• wrest block
• wrest pin
• wrest plank

Etymology 2

Possibly a variant of wrist: see the quotation. Wrist is also derived from *wr?þan? (“to weave, twist”), from a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *wrei?-, *wrey?- (“to bend, twist”), *wreyt- (“to bend”).

Noun

wrest (plural wrests)

1. A partition in a water wheel by which the form of the buckets is determined.

Etymology 3

A misspelling of rest, probably influenced by wrest (etymology 1, verb and noun).

Noun

wrest (plural wrests)

1. (agriculture, dated, dialectal) A metal (formerly wooden) piece of some ploughs attached under the mouldboard (the curved blade that turns over the furrow) for clearing out the furrow; the mouldboard itself.

Derived terms

• turnwrest

References

Anagrams

• Trews, strew, trews, werst

Middle English

Noun

wrest

1. Alternative form of wrist

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: f?r'?t, IPA^(key): /?f???t/
• Rhymes: -?r?t

Etymology 1

From Middle English furet, ferret, from Old French furet, from Vulgar Latin *furittum (“weasel, ferret”), diminutive of Latin f?r (“thief”).

Noun

ferret (plural ferrets)

1. An often domesticated mammal (Mustela putorius furo) rather like a weasel, descended from the polecat and often trained to hunt burrowing animals.
2. The black-footed ferret, Mustela nigripes.
3. (figuratively) A diligent searcher.
   • 1998 July 2, Charles Nicholl, "Screaming in the Castle" in the London Review of Books, Vol. XX, No. 13:

     The most challenging documentary discoveries were made by a tenacious archival ferret, Dr Antonio Bertoletti. In 1879 he published his findings in a slim, refreshingly dry volume, Francesco Cenci e la sua Famiglia.

Related terms

• ferret-badger
• furtive

Translations

Verb

ferret (third-person singular simple present ferrets, present participle ferreting, simple past and past participle ferreted)

1. To hunt game with ferrets.
2. (by extension, transitive, intransitive) To uncover and bring to light by searching; usually to ferret out.

Translations

Etymology 2

Italian fioretto

Noun

ferret

1. (dated) A tape of silk, cotton, or ribbon, used to tie documents, clothing, etc. or along the edge of fabric.

   • red tape and green ferret

Further reading

• ferret on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• refret

French

Etymology

From fer +? -et.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f?.??/

Noun

ferret m (plural ferrets)

1. (metal) tag; aglet, aiguillette

Further reading

• “ferret” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Latin

Verb

ferret

1. third-person singular imperfect active subjunctive of fer?