wrist

B1 Topic:The Human Body

US /ɹɪst/ See IPA manual

Freq #5206

Meanings

1

noun
The joint between the hand and the arm.

With a flick of the wrist, he threw the frisbee to a team-mate.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the joint between the hand... carpuswrist joint

Word family

Forms wrists

Derived forms limp-wristlimp-wristedwrist-fallwrist-slapwrist-topwristbandwristguardwristlesswristpinwriststrapwristwarmerwristwatch

Appears in

Phrases (1)

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wrist watch
a small timepiece worn on a strap around the wrist

Noun + noun

Tongue twisters (1)

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Etymology

From Middle English wrist, from Old English wrist, from Proto-West Germanic *wristu, from Proto-Germanic *wristuz (compare Old Frisian wrist, Low German Wrist, German Rist (“back of hand, instep, withers”), Swedish vrist), from Proto-Germanic *wrīþaną (“to twist, turn”). More at writhe.

*wreyt- Proto-Indo-European wrist Old English *wristu Proto-West Germanic *wristuz Proto-Germanic *wrīþaną Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

The Human Body

External links

# wrist

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ɹɪst/
**Frequency rank:** 5206

## Meanings
1. The joint between the hand and the arm.

## Examples
- With a flick of the wrist, he threw the frisbee to a team-mate.

## Derived Forms
- limp-wrist
- limp-wristed
- wrist-fall
- wrist-slap
- wrist-top
- wristband
- wristguard
- wristless
- wristpin
- wriststrap
- wristwarmer
- wristwatch

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *wreyt-
- Root: wrist
- Root: *wristu
- Root: *wristuz
- Root: *wrīþaną

## Etymology
From Middle English wrist, from Old English wrist, from Proto-West Germanic *wristu, from Proto-Germanic *wristuz (compare Old Frisian wrist, Low German Wrist, German Rist (“back of hand, instep, withers”), Swedish vrist), from Proto-Germanic *wrīþaną (“to twist, turn”). More at writhe.

## AI Etymology
Wrist is from Middle English wrist, from Old English wrist, from Proto-West Germanic *wristu, from Proto-Germanic *wristuz (compare Old Frisian wrist, Low German Wrist, German Rist (“back of hand, instep, withers”), Swedish vrist), from Proto-Germanic *wrīþaną (“to twist, turn”). More at writhe. Important historical forms include Proto-Indo-European *wreyt-, Middle English wrist, Old English wrist, Proto-West Germanic *wristu, Proto-Germanic *wristuz, and Proto-Germanic *wrīþaną. In present-day use, it means the joint between the hand and the arm.

## Topics
- The Human Body

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