shipwreck en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈʃɪpɹɛk/
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
From Middle English schipwrak, from Old English sċipwræc (“jetsam”), equivalent to ship + wrack. Cognate with Scots schip-wrak (“to shipwreck”, verb), Dutch scheepswrak (“shipwreck”), German Schiffswrack (“shipwreck”), Swedish skeppsvrak (“shipwreck”), Danish skibsvrag (“shipwreck”). Modern form is due to influence from wreck.
Meanings
-
(countable, uncountable) A ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy; a ruined vessel or its remains.
Marine archaeologists have discovered that two shipwrecks in Costa Rica are the remains of Danish slave ships missing for centuries — a finding that restores the ancestral lineage of an entire Costa Rican community more than 300 years after the vessels’ occupants reached its shores.
2025 May 2, Amarachi Orie, “Archaeologists discover true identity of Costa Rica shipwrecks long thought to be pirate ships”, in CNN:heaven will drive shipwrecks ashore to make us all rich
1670, John Dryden, William D'Avenant, The Tempest:Blackfishing from the beach. I've done my research. Hundreds of shipwrecks line the Jersey coast, and many of them are close enough to reach with a long cast on a dead-low tide. These wrecks hold tautog, porgies, sea bass, flounder.
2014, Nick Honachefsky, The Jersey Surf Diaries:The shipwreck is the earliest examples yet found of a propeller-driven steamship on the Great Lakes.
2015 October 22, Michael Pearson, “153-year-old shipwreck found in Lake Ontario”, in CNN:
-
(countable, uncountable) An event where a ship sinks or runs aground.
they made the coast of Cochin China, and the tempests, which rose at the same time, threatened them more than once with shipwreck
1688, John Dryden, The Life of St Francis Xavier:But now, ten years later, after his recent shipwreck, he cannot compete as a runner, though he can outthrow the slighter Phaeacians with the heaviest discus.
2002, Eva Brann, Homeric Moments, page 48:
-
(countable, figuratively, uncountable) Destruction; disaster; failure; ruin; irretrievable loss.
Holding faith and a good conscience, which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Timothy 1:19:Then you will have played your part and earned my gratitude completely. Five minutes, afterwards, if you insist upon an explanation, you will have understood that these arrangements are of capital importance; and that by the neglect of one of them, fantastic as they must appear, you might have charged your conscience with my death or the shipwreck of my reason.
1886 January 5, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Dr. Lanyon’s Narrative”, in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, pages 93–94:It was upon an Indian bill that the late ministry had made shipwreck.
1879, John Morley, Burke:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| shipwrecks | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| shipwrack | alternative, obsolete | lexicographic |
Deriveds
shipwrecky · shipwrecked · shipwreckee · Uluburun shipwreck
Translations (94)
bg корабокруше́ние (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · izh haaveri (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · ro epavă (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · es ruina naval / naviera (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · nb skipsvrak (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · nn skipsvrak (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · ang sċipġebroc (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · hu megsemmisülés (destruction; ruin; irretrievable loss) · mi waka papaea (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · br peñse (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · da forlis (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · izh hylky (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · es pérdida (destruction; ruin; irretrievable loss) · ca naufragi (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · nn skipsvrak (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · mk бро́долом (destruction; ruin; irretrievable loss) · myv венчколамо (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · hu meghiúsulás (destruction; ruin; irretrievable loss) · el ναυάγιο (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · grc ναυάγιον (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · es ruina (destruction; ruin; irretrievable loss) · cs ztroskotání (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · mi paeārautanga (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · cs vrak (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · nl wrak (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · ru кораблекруше́ние (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · et laevavrakk (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · tr gemi enkazı (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · da skibbrud (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · fi hylky (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · hu romlás (destruction; ruin; irretrievable loss) · eo ŝipruino (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · pt navio naufragado (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · sv skeppsvrak (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · gl naufraxe (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · it relitto (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · ang sċipwræc (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · ro naufragiu (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · pl rozbicie statku (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · fr ruine de nef (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · pt naufrágio (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · es pecio (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · hu hajóroncs (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · hu pusztulás (destruction; ruin; irretrievable loss) · he אֳנִיָּה טְרוּפָה (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · es desastre (destruction; ruin; irretrievable loss) · da vrag (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · mk бро́долом (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · uk кораблетро́ща (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · nl scheepswrak (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · da skibsforlis (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · pl wrak (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · es naufragio (destruction; ruin; irretrievable loss) · lt laivo sudužimas (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · nl schipbreuk (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · it naufragio (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · af skeepswrak (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · mk кр́нтија (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · pdt Scheppbruch (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · la ruīna navis (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · nb skipsvrak (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · gl naufraxio (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · pl wrak (destruction; ruin; irretrievable loss) · de Schiffswrack (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · el ναυάγιο (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · es naufragio (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · nrf naûfrage (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · la naufragium (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · la naufragium (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · ar حُطَام سَفِينَة (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · ru останки кораблекрушения (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · cmn 沉船 (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · da skibsvrag (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · grc ναυαγία (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · it rovina di nave (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · es naufragio (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · fr ruine de vaisseau (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · de Schiffbruch (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · pt ruína de nave (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · uk аварія корабля (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · sh brȍdolom (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · uk корабельна аварія (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · hu hajótörés (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · sv förlisning (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · he טְרֹפֶת (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · mk оста́тоци од бро́долом (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · ca ruina de nau (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · fi haaksirikko (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · hu veszte (destruction; ruin; irretrievable loss) · fr naufrage (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · es derrelicto (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy) · es fracaso (destruction; ruin; irretrievable loss) · sv skeppsbrott (event where a ship sinks or runs aground) · fr épave (ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy)