different between wretch vs dretch

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English wrecche, from Old English wre??a (“exile, outcast”), from Proto-Germanic *wrakjô (“exile, fugitive, warrior”), from Proto-Indo-European *wreg- (“to track, follow”). Doublet of garçon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??t?/
• Rhymes: -?t?
• Homophone: retch

Noun

wretch (plural wretches)

1. An unhappy, unfortunate, or miserable person.
2. An unpleasant, annoying, worthless, or despicable person.
   • 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Supplemental Nights to the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 532:

     […] Alaeddin ate and drank and was cheered and after he had rested and had recovered spirits he cried, "Ah, O my mother, I have a sore grievance against thee for leaving me to that accursed wight who strave to compass my destruction and designed to take my life. Know that I beheld Death with mine own eyes at the hand of this damned wretch, whom thou didst certify to be my uncle; […]
3. (archaic) An exile. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Derived terms

• wretched

Translations

Etymology 2

Verb

wretch (third-person singular simple present wretches, present participle wretching, simple past and past participle wretched)

1. Misspelling of retch.

Further reading

• wretch in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• wretch in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• wretch at OneLook Dictionary Search
• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “wretch”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?t?

Etymology 1

From Middle English dretchen, drecchen, drechen, from Old English dre??an (“to vex, irritate, trouble, torment, torture, oppress, afflict”), from Proto-Germanic *drakjan? (“to torment”), from Proto-Indo-European *d?rag-, *d?rag?- (“to bother, torment”). Cognate with Russian ??????????? (razdražát?, “to irritate”), Sanskrit ??????? (dr?ghate, “to exert oneself, be tired, torment”).

Verb

dretch (third-person singular simple present dretches, present participle dretching, simple past and past participle dretched)

1. (transitive) To vex; grill; trouble; oppress.

Etymology 2

From Middle English dretchen, drecchen, drechen, from Old English *dre??an (“to draw out, delay, linger”), from Proto-Germanic *drakjan? (“to draw, pull”), from Proto-Indo-European *d?re?- (“to pull, drag, scratch”). Cognate with Scots dratch, dretch (“to dawdle”), Dutch trekken (“to draw, pull, tear, pluck, trek”), German trecken (“to draw, trek”), Danish trække (“to draw, pull”), Norwegian dråk (“stripe”), Swedish dialectal drakig (“striped, streaked”), Icelandic rák (“streak”).

Alternative forms

• draitch, drich (Scotland)

Verb

dretch (third-person singular simple present dretches, present participle dretching, simple past and past participle dretched)

1. (intransitive) To delay; linger; tarry.
2. (intransitive, Britain dialectal, Scotland) To move slowly and heavily; dawdle; loiter.

Noun

dretch (plural dretches)

1. An idle wench; a slattern.
2. (Britain dialectal, Scotland) A person slow in the execution of a job; a dawdler.