Origin and history of wrought

"act, operate, put forth effort in the accomplishment of something," a fusion of Old English wyrcan (past tense worhte, past participle geworht) "prepare, perform, do, make, construct, produce by labor or craft; strive after" (from Proto-Germanic *wurkjanan); and Old English wircan (Mercian) "to operate, function, set (events) in motion," a secondary verb formed relatively late from Proto-Germanic noun *werkan- (see work (n.)).

The sense of "perform physical labor, do service or humble tasks" was in Old English, as was sense of "ply one's trade" and "exert creative power, be a creator."

The transitive sense "knead or manipulate (physical substances) into a desired state or form" also was in Old English. The meaning "have the expected or desired effect" is from late 14c. Related: Worked (15c.); wrought; working.

To work against "attempt to subvert" is from late 14c. To work one's way "have one's will" is by early 14c. To work in "insert, introduce or intermix," as one material with another, is by 1670s; hence the figurative sense "cause to enter or penetrate by repeated efforts."

To work over "beat up, thrash" is from 1927; as a noun, working-over is by 1960.

of feelings, imagination, etc., "worked up to too high a pitch, overexcited," 1758, literally "over-worked, worked too hard or too much," from over- + wrought. Earlier it meant "exhausted by work" (1660s), of oxen, etc., as a literal past participle of overwork (v.).