An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/ringen

by Friedrich Kluge

ringen, vb., ‘to encircle; wring, wrestle, strive,’ from MidHG. ringen, ‘to move to and fro, exert oneself, wind,’ OHG. ringan, from an earlier *wringan; comp. Du. wringen, ‘to wring, squeeze,’ AS. wringan, E. to wring; Goth. *wriggan is implied by wruggô, ‘snare.’ The root wring, identical with the root wrank (see renken), meant orig. ‘to turn in a winding manner, move with effort.’ With this are connected ModHG. Ranke, E. wrong, MidE. wrang, ‘bent, perverted, wrong’ (OIc. rangr, ‘bent, wrong,’ ModDu. wrang, ‘sour, bitter’), and E. to wrangle. Perhaps würgen (root wrg) is allied; E. to ring is, however, not connected, since it comes from AS. hringan.