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Johnleo Posted 16 years ago
Vocabulary

Wrought

His title borrows a melancholy remark made by Dwight Eisenhower, who called what the CIA had wrought on his say-so “a legacy of ashes”.

Is wrought the past participle of work or wreak? Could you please explain in detail the second part of the sentence? Thanks very much.
  

Top answer

Most dictionaries seem to list "wrought" as an archaic past tense of "work" only, its use as a past tense of "wreak" apparently being a misunderstanding. Here I read it to mean "fashioned", "brought about". This sense, even if originally a past tense of "work", now seems to have taken on a life of its own and in this context does, to me, seem coloured by the association with "wreak".

— Mr Wordy

  • Most dictionaries seem to list "wrought" as an archaic past tense of "work" only, its use as a past tense of "wreak" apparently being a misunderstanding.
  • Here I read it to mean "fashioned", "brought about".
  • This sense, even if originally a past tense of "work", now seems to have taken on a life of its own and in this context does, to me, seem coloured by the association with "wreak".
  • e.
  • according to his command), the CIA fashioned this "legacy of ashes", as Eisenhower called it.
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2 Answers
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Most dictionaries seem to list "wrought" as an archaic past tense of "work" only, its use as a past tense of "wreak" apparently being a misunderstanding. Here I read it to mean "fashioned", "brought about". This sense, even if originally a past tense of "work", now seems to have taken on a life of its own and in this context does, to me, seem coloured by the association with "wreak".

So,
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Thanks a lot, Mr Wordy.
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