Write the Right Wright Trivia Quiz

Answer: Wright

In Old English (c.700 AD), "wryhta" or "wrihta" meant worker or shaper of wood. The term came from "wyhrta", maker and "wyrcan", to work.

Wright is frequently added to other words to form occupational titles, such as housewright or wagonwright.

The term, "Jack of all trades" or "Jack-of-all-trades", dates to the early 17th Century and refers to a person who can tackle any kind of work.

Answer: Cartwright

A cartwright is someone skilled in building or fixing carts and wagons.

The word is from the early 15th Century, formed by Cart + Wright.

A cart is a two-wheeled vehicle, with no springs and designed for a single horse. In Old English (c.1200 AD) "craet" was the word for cart, wagon or chariot.

Answer: Playwright

Although this term might be better as "Playwrite", the word is formed from Play + Wright and dates to the 17th Century.

"Play" in the sense of a dramatic performance has its origins from the Old English "plega" or "plaega", 14th Century words relating to recreation.

A "playwright" is an author of plays, or a dramatist. Ben Jonson (1572-1637), himself an English playwright and poet, is thought to have used this term c.1610.

Answer: Codewright

"Codewright" is not a surname or term dating back hundreds of years, although it might well have been applied to Ada, Countess of Lovelace (1815-1852) who wrote programs for Charles Babbage's (1791-1871) early mechanical computers.

"Code" is a word from Old French c.1300 in the sense of a set of laws. The 19th Century saw the meaning extended to ciphers, while the modern usage relating to computers is from 1946.

CodeWright from Code + Wright was the name given to a Windows program editor used from 1991 which could form part of an IDE (Integrated Development Environment). Nowadays, CodeWright is regarded as legacy software, though apparently still available.

Answer: Wheelwright

"Tyre" is the British spelling of "tire" a word possibly shortened from attire and referring to the covering of a carriage wheel in the late 15th Century.

"Wheelwright" is formed from Wheel + Wright and describes the work of anyone making or fitting wheels, particularly wooden spoked ones. It is an old term from the 13th Century.

Wheel comes from the Old English "hweol" or "hweogol" meaning to revolve or move around.

Answer: Wainwright

John Constable (1776-1837) was an English landscape painter. "The Hay Wain" (c.1821) is arguably one of his best known paintings and depicts horses pulling a large farm wagon across a river.

A "Wainwright" from Wain + Wright is a wagon builder. In Old English "waegn" means a wheeled vehicle or wagon. Wagonwright and Waggonwrite are other surnames with the same meanings.

It has been suggested that "wain" had largely fallen into disuse by the 16th Century but poets found it easier to rhyme than "wagon" and so use of the word has continued in English.

Answer: Shipwright

A "shipwright" is someone who designs, builds or repairs ships and is a term and surname formed from Ship + Wright.

"Ship" particularly relates to wooden vessels and is derived from the Old English word, "scip".

Boatwright is a word with similar origins. The Old English "bat" was used for a small open vessel rather than a larger enclosed ship.

Answer: Ploughwright (Plowwright)

Plough is a British alternate spelling for plow. Taken from the Old English words "plog" and "ploh", the term is actually a measure of land area. It is how much farmland that could be tilled by a yoke of oxen in a day. There are other etymologies from different cultures.

Ploughwrights or plowwrights are those who build or repair ploughs or other equipment for farming. A plough is an agricultural implement used to prepare land for crops by loosening or turning the soil. Historically, some form of ploughing has been practiced since ancient times.

The Plough or the Big Dipper are also names used to refer to the constellation Ursa Major.

Answer: Lightwright

"Lightwright" from Light + Wright is not a surname or term used for lighting designers in ancient or older times, but it is definitely applicable nowadays.

Early theatres were open-air, built so they could take advantage of natural light by orienting them east/west. Later buildings would have open roofs. As different lighting technologies emerged, so did the need for designers and technicians to manage their use for artistic productions.

"Lightwright" is software for managing theatrical lighting. Dating back to 1988, Lightwright is a relational database and spreadsheet for handling all aspects of the designer's craft. It is now the industry standard in professional theatre.

Answer: Millwright

"Millwright" is formed from Mill + Wright. Formerly, it referred to someone who designed and built mills and machinery used in milling. Millwrights were also responsible for the maintenance and repair of such facilities.

The term "mill" is from the 15th Century. In Middle English, a "mille" was a building for grinding grain, from the 10th Century Old English "mylen". There are other etymologies, leading to words meaning crush or grind.

From c.1500, mills were buildings containing machinery and using wind or water to power manufacturing processes.

"Millwright" also has modern connotations, of craftsmen and skilled tradesmen working in factories and power plants to install, maintain and repair equipment.