The noun is derived from Middle English wratthe (“anger, hostility, distress 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); compare Dutch wreedte. 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 wratthe, wretthe (noun) (see above) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs).
1
Formal, Usually Great anger; (countable) an instance of this.
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:
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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 (date written), [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:
2
Usually Punishment, retribution, or vengeance resulting from 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:
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[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; Gregorian calendar), [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:
[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:
The noun is derived from Middle English wratthe (“anger, hostility, distress 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); compare Dutch wreedte. 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 wratthe, wretthe (noun) (see above) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs).
[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:
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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:
"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:
wrath
adj
Etymology A variant of wroth, probably influenced by wrath (noun) (see etymology 1).
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:
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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: Laurence 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: