Etymology: Cognate with German regional (Low German: Schleswig-Holstein) Wried , Wriet clump of shoots growing together, tangled branches, brushwood, and (with different ablaut (o -grade) and stem class) West Frisian wreid sprout, shoot < the same Germanic base as wride v.Compare also (with different ablaut: zero-grade) prefixed Old English gewrid thicket; English regional (Yorkshire) writh stalk of a potato plant (1824) appears to show the reflex of a form with the same stem vowel (with the sense compare quot. 1828).

Etymology: A merging of two distinct but closely related words: (i) an Old English strong verb of Class I (wrīdan , wrīþan ), cognate with (now weak) German regional (Low German: Schleswig-Holstein) wrieden , wrieten to grow bushy < a Germanic base of uncertain origin, probably originally the same base as writhe v., with the sense development from ‘to twist, turn’ via ‘to intertwine’ to ‘to produce many intertwining shoots’ and ‘to grow, flourish’ (compare the parallel semantic development of Lithuanian riesti to grow vigorously (basic sense ‘to bend, curve, warp’: see writhe v.)); and (ii) an Old English weak verb of Class II (wrīdian , wrīþian ) < wride n. (and hence ultimately < the same Germanic base). Compare also West Frisian wreidzje to grow, sprout, spread, representing a more recent denominal formation < wreid sprout, shoot (see wride n.).The consonantal variation seen in Old English (in both strong and weak verb) between dental plosive (d ) and dental fricative (þ/ð ) is most likely the result of different levelling in the principal parts of the Germanic strong verb, which would originally have shown the effects of Verner's Law (compare e.g. lithe v.¹, scrithe v., snithe v. for verbs of the same class with the same consonantism, in which the Verner's Law alternation is continued in Old English). In Old English, forms with d are more frequent than forms with þ/ð for both the strong and the weak verb. The final -y in English regional (south-western) wredy, wreedy at α. forms reflects the Old English weak Class II ending (see -y suffix²). Prefixed forms. In Old English the prefixed form (of the weak verb) gewrīdian to grow, multiply, flourish (compare y- prefix) is also attested; compare also awrīdian to spring from, originate (compare a- prefix¹). N.E.D. (1928) gives the pronunciation as (rəid) /raɪd/.