▪ I. † wroot, n. Obs.
In 1 wrot, urot, uurot, 4–5 wrot, 5 wrotte, wroughte.
[OE. wrót, = MLG. wrote (a mole), LG. wrote, wröte, WFlem. wroete (snout). Cf. next and wort n.3]
The snout of a swine, etc.; a proboscis.
| c 725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) B 188 Bruncus, wrot. a 1100 Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 118 Promuscida, ylpes bile, uel wrot. a 1325 Old Age ii. in E.E.P. (1862) 149 Moch me anueþ þat mi dribil druiþ and mi wrot wet. c 1375 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1875) 43 Þis bestes heore wrot to him gonne beode. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xiii. xxix. (Tollem. MS.), The sea swyne..piccheþ þe wrot [1535 snowte] in grauel. Ibid. xviii. xlii. (Bodl. MS.), With his wrotte and snowte he wroteþ vp treen. 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 587 Grunnus,..a gruyn, or a wrot. |
▪ II. † wroot, v. Obs.
Forms: 1 wrotan, 2–4 wroten (5 -yn), 4–7 wrote (5 wroth-), 4–6 wroote, 6–7 wroot (5 Sc. wrotte, 6 wrutt).
[OE. wrótan, = OFris. *wrôta (WFris. wrotte, NFris. wrote, wröte, wrät), MLG. wroten (LG. wröten), MDu. and Du. wroeten (Antwerp dial. wruten), OHG. *wrôzian, ruozian to plough up, ON. and Icel. róta, (M)Sw. and Norw. rota, Da. rode), f. wrót wroot n. Cf. root v.2, wort v., wrout v.]
1. intr. To turn up soil with the snout, as swine in search of food; to dig up the earth by grubbing; = root v.2 1. Also in fig. context.
| c 725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) S 689 Subigo, wrotu. a 1000 Riddles xl[i]. 107 Swin, bearᵹ bellende on bocwuda won wrotende wynnum lifde. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 37 Alse swin, þe uulieð and wroteð and sneuieð aure fule. c 1205 Lay. 469 Wilde swin þat wroteð ȝeond þan grouen. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶83 (Ellesm.), Right as a soughe wroteth in euerich ordure; so wroteth [other MSS. add sche, she] hire beautee in stynkynge ordure of synne. c 1410 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) v, [Wild boars] wrote in þe grounde with þe rowell of hir snowte. c 1420 Avow. Arth. xii, The bore..be-gynnus to wrote, He ruskes vppe mony a rote. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 20 In the wyldernesse of this worlde where they labour & wroote in the erth. a 1586 Sidney De Mornay Pref. ¶2 We..preach the kingdome of heauen, and haue our groynes euer wrooting in the ground. 1587 Harrison England iii. viii. (1878) ii. 52 Some [sheep] also will wroot for them [sc. saffron-bulbs] in verie eger maner. 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. ii. 320 That cruell Boare, whose tusks turn'd up whole fields of graine, And wrooting, raised hills upon the leuell Plaine. 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 144 To lye it wheare it may bee well wroten amongst with swine and beasts. Ibid. 148 Rye-strawe, well wrote amongst. |
b. transf. Of worms.
| c 1308 Erthe upon Erthe 2 Þan schullen an hundred wormes wroten on þe skin. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 467 God wayned a worme þat wrot vpe þe rote. a 1425 Cursor M. 23281 (Trin.), Þo wormes euer shul on hem wrote. 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas i. 6435 Lik a werm that wrotith on a tre. |
c. Of persons: To turn up the ground. rare—1.
| c 1325 Orfeo 239 Now he most bothe digge and wrote, Er he have his fille of rote. |
2. trans. To turn over, dig or tear up, with the snout, as in grubbing or burrowing; = root v.2 2. Occas. with up. Also in fig. context.
| c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Thorpe) lxxix. 13 Hine utan of wuda eoferas wrotað. a 1352 Minot Poems vi. 32–33 A were es wroght,..Ȝowre walles with to wrote. Wrote þai sal ȝowre dene. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 406 Molde-worpis þat wroten þe erþe. 1398 [see wroot n.]. c 1410 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) xxiv, Rootes þat þei [sc. boars] wrote oute of þe erthe. c 1440 Gesta Rom. 148 (Addit. MS.), There entred a swyne, and the new plantes..he wroted. 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 102 The Sow..wrooting vp the clots of the yearth. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 29 Cursed be those Swynishe senses, whiche can wroote together all rootes of wickednesse. [1601 2nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. iii. iv. 1390 If his earth wroting snout shall gin to scorne.] |
| transf. 1535 Coverdale Prov. xv. 27 The couetous man wrutteth vp his owne house. |
b. To draw or cast (earth, etc.) by grubbing.
| c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 802 Light molde aboute and on, anoon let wroote. Ibid. iii. 445 More [mould] a litel herre vppon hit wrote. Ibid. xii. 469 But wete hym ofte, and donge aboute hym wrote. |
Hence † ˈwrooting ppl. a. Obs.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 79 A wroting vlcus [L. vlcus corosiuum] is þat of his malice fretiþ [B.M. Addit. MS. wroteþ]. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 132 The wrotyng hogge. 1600 Thynne Emblems (1876) xxiii. 5 With wrootinge groyne..[the] warlike bore Turnes vp and betters that bad lande. |
▪ III. wroot
obs. erron. form of root v.1