Thrawen

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Having been twisted or wrenched out of shape, as a past participle of the Scots verb meaning to twist
2. The Scots past participle describing something that has been turned, wrung or contorted out of its natural form
3. Twisted or contorted, the past form of a Scots verb used to describe something bent awry or wrung round

Etymology: "Thrawen" is the past participle of "thrive"'s obsolete Scots and northern English cousin "thraw" ... let me be precise instead: "thrawen" is a Scots and northern English form meaning "twisted" or "contorted," the past participle of "thraw," to twist or wrench. It descends from Old English "thrāwan," to twist or turn, a verb tied to the same root that gives "throw" in its older sense of turning or twisting. Early on, throwing something meant hurling it through a twisting motion of the arm, and the sense of twisting survives in the Scots word. The Scots "thraw" also carries a broader set of meanings, including to twist something out of shape, to sprain, and, in the form "thrawn," to be stubborn or perverse, as if turning against the grain. Dictionaries record "thrawen" primarily as the participle in these senses rather than as a separate headword with its own history.

Synonyms: thrown