wrath

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

Let all bitternes, fearſnes and wrath, rorynge and curſyd ſpeakynge, be put awaye from you, with all maliciouſnes.

1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Ephesians iiij:[31], folios cclvij, recto – cclvij, verso:

Thou barrein ground, whome winters wrath hath waſted,
 Art made a myrrhour, to behold my plight: […]

1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “Ianuarye. Ægloga Prima.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC, folio 1, verso:

I tel you true my hart is ſwolne with wrath,
 On this ſame theeuiſh villain Tamburlain.

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene ii, signature B2, verso:

[H]im ſo far had borne his light-foot ſteede,
 Pricked vvith vvrath and fiery fierce diſdaine,
 That him to follovv vvas but fruitleſſe paine; […]

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 8, page 21:

VVho (in my vvrath)
 Kneel'd and^([sic – meaning at]) my feet, and bid me be aduis'd?

c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 183, column 1:

Lingring perdition (vvorſe then any death
 Can be at once) ſhall ſtep, by ſtep attend
 You, and your vvayes, vvhoſe vvraths, to guard you from,
 VVhich here, in this moſt deſolate Iſle, elſe fals
 Vpon your heads, is nothing but hearts-ſorrovv,
 And a cleere life enſuing.

1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii], page 13, column 2:

[S]tern briſtles hedg'd up high
 His back, vvhich did all vvrath of thorns defie.

1648, Joseph Beaumont, “Canto II. Lust Conquered. Stanza 16.”, in Psyche: Or Loves Mysterie, […], London: […] John Dawson for George Boddington, […], →OCLC, page 14, column 2:

[C]ome not near me to night, vvhile I'm in vvrath.

1667 (revival performance), John Dryden, The Wild Gallant: A Comedy. […], In the Savoy [London]: […] T[homas] Newcomb for H[enry] Herringman, […], published 1669, →OCLC, Act II, page 24:

The Seer, vvho could not yet his VVrath aſſvvage,
 Rovvl'd his green Eyes, that ſparkl'd vvith his Rage; […]

1697, Virgil, “The Fourth Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 142, lines 651–652:

For vvhen he knevv his Rival freed and gone,
 He ſvvells vvith VVrath; he makes outrageous Moan:
 He frets, he fumes, he ſtares, he ſtamps the Ground;
 The hollowvv Tovv'r vvith Clamours rings around: […]

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:

VVhat Drop or Noſtrum can this Plague remove?
 Or vvhich muſt end me, a Fool's VVrath or Love?

1735 January 13 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1734), [Alexander] Pope, An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot, London: […] J[ohn] Wright for Lawton Gilliver […], →OCLC, page 2, lines 29–30:

Then nature injur'd, ſcandaliz'd, defil'd,
 Unveil'd her bluſhing cheek, look'd on and ſmil'd,
 Beheld vvith joy the lovely ſcene defac'd,
 And prais'd the vvrath that lay'd her beauties vvaſte.

1781 (date written), William Cowper, “Expostulation”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1782, →OCLC, page 124:

[…] Miſs Margland, in deep vvrath, refuſed to let her move a ſtep.

1796, [Frances Burney], “A Raffle”, in Camilla: Or, A Picture of Youth. […], volume I, London: […] T[homas] Payne, […]; and T[homas] Cadell Jun. and W[illiam] Davies (successors to Mr. [Thomas] Cadell) […], →OCLC, book II, page 254:

But quickly Peter's mood is chang'd,
 And on he drives with cheeks that burn
 In downright fury and in wrath— […]

1798 (date written), William Wordsworth, “Part First”, in Peter Bell, a Tale in Verse, London: […] Strahan and Spottiswoode, […]; for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […], published 1819, →OCLC, page 26:

When lo! a wasted Female form,
 Blighted by wrath of sun and storm,
 In tattered weeds and wild array,
 Stood on a cliff beside the way, […]

1810, Walter Scott, “Canto IV. The Prophecy.”, in The Lady of the Lake; […], Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for John Ballantyne and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and William Miller, →OCLC, stanza XXI, page 172:

[S]he remained still: except that she clenched her arms tighter and tighter within each other, on her bosom, as if to restrain them by that means from doing an injury to herself, or some one else, in the blind fury of the wrath that suddenly possessed her.

1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, “Another Mother and Daughter”, in Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 348:

His chafing, bleeding temper is one raw; his whole soul one rage, and wrath, and fever.

1861 January – 1862 August, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, “I Charge You, Drop Your Daggers!”, in The Adventures of Philip on His Way through the World; […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1862, →OCLC, page 238:

How sweetly would she glide between your wraths,
 And steal you from each other!

1864, Alfred Tennyson, “Aylmer’s Field”, in Enoch Arden, &c., London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 87:

We come in charity and good will, but we may go in wrath.

1882, Ouida [pseudonym; Maria Louise Ramé], chapter XII, in In Maremma […], volume I, London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 243:

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?

1921, Ben Travers, “‘Sing Cuccu Nu’”, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC, part I (“Come He Will”), page 47:

(uncountable, formal) Great anger; (countable) an instance of this.

Great anger; (countable) an instance of this.

the wrath of God

[…] I [i.e., God] gaue the [thee] a kinge in my wrath, and in my diſpleaſure will I take him from the agayne.

1535 October 14 (Gregorian calendar), Myles Coverdale, transl., Biblia: The Byble, […] (Coverdale Bible), [Cologne or Marburg]: [Eucharius Cervicornus and Johannes Soter?], →OCLC, Eseas [Hosea] xiij:[11], folio lxxxvi, verso, column 1:

[H]e is the miniſter of God, a reuenger to execute wrath vpon him that doeth euill.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Romans 13:4, column 2:

And though not mortall, yet a cold ſhuddring devv
 Dips me all o'e[r], as vvhen the vvrath of Iove
 Speaks thunder, and the chaines of Erebus
 To ſome of Saturns crevv.

1634 October 9 (first performance), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, […], published 1637, →OCLC; reprinted as Comus: […] (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, →OCLC, page 27:

He to appeaſe thy wrauth, and end the ſtrife
 Of Mercy and Juſtice in thy face diſcern'd,
 Regardleſs of the Bliſs wherein hee ſat
 Second to thee, offerd himſelf to die
 For mans offence.

1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 406–410:

[T]he vvrath of God cometh upon the children of diſobedience.

1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC, page 188:

(uncountable) Punishment, retribution, or vengeance resulting from anger; (countable) an instance of this.

[T]hey are in the verie vvrath of loue, and they vvill together. Clubbes cannot part them.

c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii], page 194, column 2:

[I]f you hold your life at any price, betake you to your gard: for your oppoſite hath in him vvhat youth, ſtrength, skill, and vvrath, can furniſh man vvithall.

c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv], page 269, column 1:

(uncountable, obsolete) Great ardour or passion.

en-noun

wrath (usually uncountable, plural wraths)

възме́здие

punishment, retribution, or vengeance resulting from anger; an instance of this.

The noun is derived from Middle English wraththe, wreththe (“anger, fury, rage; animosity, hostility; deadly sin of wrath; distress, vexation; punishment; retribution (?)”) [and other forms], from Old English wrǣþþu (“ire, wrath”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *wraiþiþu (“anger, fury, wrath”), from *wraiþ (“angry, furious, wroth; hostile, violent; bent, twisted”) (from Proto-Germanic *wraiþaz (“angry, furious, wroth; hostile, violent; bent, twisted”), from Proto-Indo-European *wreyt- (“to twist”)) + *-iþu (suffix forming abstract nouns). Effectively analysable as wroth + -th (abstract nominal suffix).
The verb is derived from Middle English wratthen (“to be or become angry, to rage; to quarrel; to cause wrath, offend; to become troubled or vexed; to cause grief or harm, grieve, vex”) [and other forms], from wraththe, wreththe (noun) (see above) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs).
Cognates
* Danish vrede (“anger, wrath”)
* Dutch wreedte (“cruelty”)
* Icelandic reiði (“anger”)
* Swedish vrede (“anger, ire, wrath”)

nb...

wraaþ, wragh, wraght, wraith, wrat, wrā̆th, wrathe, wrā̆the, wrath, wraththe, wratth, wratthe, wraugth, wretthe, (Scotland) wraith, (Southwest Midlands) wradðe, wrað, wraðe, wræððe, wraððe, wraððhe, wraðþe, wraþe, wraþþe, wreadðe, wreaððe, wredða, wredðe, wreþþe, (Early Middle English) wræþdæ

wraððo, wræððu, wræððo, wrǣþþ, (Northumberland) urāððo

inh

Proto-West Germanic *wraiþiþu (“anger, fury, wrath”)

angry, furious, wroth; hostile, violent; bent, twisted

Proto-Indo-European *wreyt- (“to twist”)

nb...

wrath, wrathe, wrathen, wraththe, wraththen, wraththi, wratth, wratthe, wraþþen, wreththe, wreththi, wretth, wretthe, wretthi, wretthin, wreþþen, (Southwest England, Southwest Midlands) wreaððin, wreððen, (Early Middle English) wraðhin, wræðþiæn


wrath

[R]emembre howe by thy cursed synnes thou haste offended and wrathed thy lorde god.

[1506?], Jacobus van Gruitroede, translated by [Margaret Beaufort], The Mirroure of Golde for the Synfull Soule, London: […] Richarde Pynson, →OCLC, folio 12, verso:

Of ire yͤ whiche is agayne god. […] A man wratheth hym ayenst god for many thynges, pryncypally for the flagellacions, aduersytees, fortunes, sykenesses, & mortalytees, losses, punycyons, famyne, warre & yll tyme.

1510 September 24 (Gregorian calendar), [Andrew Chertsey], transl., Ihesus. The Floure of the Commaundements of God […], London: […] Wynkyn de Worde, →OCLC, folio 60, recto:

And than the byſſhop ſayd vnto the clerke⸝ thou haſt wrathed me⸝ but yf thou wylte be ſory thou ſhalte haue my loue as thou haddeſt before⸝ & I ſhall gyue the [i.e., thee] the benefyce yͭ I haue promyſed to gyue the⸝ ſholde not he be anone ſory of that I byleue that yes.

1520, Saynt Peter of Lucẽbourth [i.e., Pierre de Luxembourg], anonymous translator, The Boke Entytuled the Next Way to Heuen […], London: […] Wynkyn de Worde, →OCLC, folio [4], recto:

(transitive)
To anger (someone); to enrage.

(transitive)
To become angry with (someone).

"Nay, wrath thee not, Will," said Ganlesse; "and speak no words in haste, lest you may have cause to repent at leisure.[…]"

1822, [Walter Scott], chapter X, in Peveril of the Peak. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 267:

God is a righteous judge, strong and patient, and God wratheth every day.

1860, E[dward] B[ouverie] Pusey, “Nahum”, in The Minor Prophets with a Commentary Explanatory and Practical and Introductions to the Several Books (The Holy Bible with a Commentary […]), Oxford, Oxfordshire: J. H. & J. Parker, […], →OCLC, page 374, column 2:

en-verb

wrath (third-person singular simple present wraths, present participle wrathing, simple past and past participle wrathed)

wraths (present singular third-person)
wrathing (participle present)
wrathed (participle past)
wrathed (past)
wrath (infinitive)
wrath (first-person present singular)
wrathed (first-person past singular)
wrath (present second-person singular)
wrathest (archaic present second-person singular)
wrathed (past second-person singular)
wrathedst (archaic past second-person singular)
wraths (present singular third-person)
wratheth (archaic present singular third-person)
wrathed (past singular third-person)
wrath (plural present)
wrathed (past plural)
wrath (present subjunctive)
wrathed (past subjunctive)
wrath (imperative present)
wrathing (participle present)
wrathed (participle past)


wrath

Take heede the Queene come not vvithin his ſight,
 For Oberon is paſſing fell and vvrath:
 Becauſe that ſhe, as her attendant, hath
 A louely boy ſtollen, from an Indian king:
 She neuer had ſo ſvveete a changeling.

c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, A Midsommer Nights Dreame. […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Richard Bradock] for Thomas Fisher, […], published 1600, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], signature B3, recto:

VVhereat the Prince full vvrath, his ſtrong right hand
 In full auengement heaued vp on hie,
 And ſtroke the Pagan vvith his ſteely brand
 So ſore, that to his ſaddle bovv thereby
 He bovved lovv, and ſo a vvhile did lie: […]

1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 43, page 120:

And Pharao being a vvrath againſt them (for the one vvas chiefe of the cupbearers, the other chiefe baker) he ſent them into the priſon of the captaine of the ſouldiers, in the vvhich Ioſeph alſo vvas priſoner.

1609, The Holie Bible, […] (Douay–Rheims Bible), Doway: Lavrence Kellam, […], →OCLC, Genesis 40:2–3, pages 122–123:

Th' old Dragon underground
 In ſtraiter limits bound,
 Not half ſo far caſts his uſurped ſvvay,
 And vvrath to ſee his Kingdom fail,
 Svvindges the ſcaly Horrour of his foulded tail.

1629, John Milton, “On the Morning of Christs Nativity”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 9:

Lovel, seldom angry, was violently wrath with his brother-in-law; and, almost always polite, was at breakfast scarcely civil to Lady Baker.

1860 January–June, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, “A Black Sheep”, in Lovel the Widower, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1861, →OCLC, page 165:

I felt wrath with her. My heart so cherished my harmless, defenceless Lilian, that I was jealous of the praise taken from her to be bestowed on another.

1861 September 28 – 1862 March 8, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter XXXI, in A Strange Story. […], volume II, London: Sampson Low, Son, & Co., […], published 1862, →OCLC, page 229:

(archaic) Synonym of wroth (“full of anger; wrathful”)

en-adj

wrath (comparative more wrath, superlative most wrath)

more wrath (comparative)
most wrath (superlative)

A variant of wroth, probably influenced by wrath (noun) (see etymology 1).