The w in wrist was pronounced. Old English wrist was said with an audible w before the r, and English kept that cluster until about the 1600s, when it was simplified in speech but not in writing. The same is true of write, wrap, wring, wrong and wretch — the whole wr- family preserves a sound English gave up four centuries ago.
This is the genuine kind of silent letter, recording lost speech rather than a scholarly opinion. The word means, appropriately, "the turning joint," from a Germanic root meaning "to turn" — the same idea behind writhe and wreath, and behind German Rist, "back of the hand, instep." Wrist-watch is attested from 1889, which is later than most people would guess.
wrist (n.) "joint of the body that connects the hand to the forearm," Old English wrist , from Proto-Germanic *wristiz (source also of Old Norse rist "instep," Old Frisian wrist , Middle Dutch wrist , German Rist "back of the hand, instep"), from *wreik- "to turn," which according to Watkins is from PIE root *wer- (2) "to turn, bend." The notion is "the turning joint." Wrist-watch , small watch worn on a band around the wrist, is attested by 1889. Wrist-band is from 1570s as the part of a sleeve which covers the wrist, 1969 as a perspiration absorber.
wrist came in through Old English, and its spelling follows that family's conventions.
How that family writes these sounds
| /r/ at the start | wr-write, wrist |
What gives it away on the page
| kn-, gn-, wr- | Silent now, fully pronounced in 1400. The letters are a recording of a lost pronunciation.knight, gnat, wrist |
Old English in the spelling guide · guess another word's family