An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Rist
Rist, masculine, ‘wrist, instep; withers,’ from Middle High German rist, riste, masculine, feminine, and neuter, ‘wrist, instep’; Old High German *rist, as well as the implied earlier *wrist, are by chance not recorded; compare Dutch wrist (dialectic Frist), Anglo-Saxon wyrst, wrist, English wrist, Old Frisian riust, wirst, ‘wrist, ankle,’ Old Icelandic rist, feminine, ‘instep’; Gothic *wrists is not recorded. The primitive meaning of the cognates is usually assumed to be ‘turning-point,’ Rist being referred to a Teutonic root wrī̆þ, ‘to turn,’ which has been reserved in English to writhe, as well as in Modern High German Reitel, ‘packing-stick’ (Middle High German reitel for an earlier *wreitel), Other etymologists connect the word with Greek ῥίζα (from *ϝρισδα?), ‘root.’ Yet Old High German rîho (for earlier *wrîho), Modern High German Reihen, is probably most closely connected with the cognates of Rist, so that Gothic *wristi- would represent wrihsti-, and thus imply an Aryan root wrī̆k.