wrought
adjective

- worked into shape by artistry or effort

- elaborately embellished, ornamented

- processed for use, manufactured

- beaten into shape by tools, hammered

- deeply stirred, excited (often used with “up” as in “wrought up”)

Merriam-Webster

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WORD ORIGIN

“Wrought” derives from Old English geworht, past participle of wyrcan meaning "to work" or “to make by effort or labour”. The meaning evolved to include "work into shape, molded, or constructed" and in the 16th century took on connotations of being "skillfully made" or "elaborately embellished".

So in summary, wrought has its origins in Old English words for "work", and has evolved from meaning simply "made" to implying artful craftsmanship and effortful creation.

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WHAT HUMANS HAVE WROUGHT

Did you know that human-made materials outweigh all living beings on earth?

We humans have been shaping the world for millennia, using resources from a seemingly infinite natural world. Yet the toll of our activity is coming into view. While we often focus on the effects of our choices, we seldom consider the physical weight of our footprint. How large of a mark are we leaving?

Researchers at the Weizmann Institute have calculated the mass of human-made materials from 1900 to today in six categories: concrete, aggregates, brick, asphalt, metals, and plastic. They compared these values to global biomass, the total mass of organisms… including all microorganisms, fungi, plants, insects, fish, reptiles, birds, land and marine mammals, They found anthropogenic (man-made) mass has increased exponentially, doubling every 20 years, reaching 30 gigatons per year.

Though anthropogenic mass has grown rapidly, global biomass has remained stable, with plants accounting for most. In 1900, human-made objects were just 3% of global biomass. By 2020, they surpassed all living organisms, reaching 1.1 teratonnes! If trends continue, anthropogenic mass will triple global biomass by 2040.

Most anthropogenic mass was building materials. At 1100 gigatonnes, roads, buildings, and infrastructure exceeded all trees and shrubs combined. Plastic comprised less than 1% of infrastructure but still doubled the mass of all animals.

Source: Emily Elhacham, et al, — ‘Global human-made mass exceeds all living biomass’ Nature Magazine (9th December 2020)

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SYNONYMS

- 100 ways we make matter:

assembled, banged, bashed, battered, bent, bettered, braided, built, bulged, carved, chiseled, clanged, clanked, coiled, composed, concocted, conformed, constructed, contorted, converted, crafted, created, crocheted, curved, cut, debossed, designed, embossed, engraved, enriched, entangled, entwined, etched, evolved, expanded, extended, fabricated, fashioned, flexed, folded, forged, formed, furled, hammered, hewn, hit, honed, imprinted, incised, inscribed, interlaced, interleaved, interlinked, interlocked, intertwined, latticed, lengthened, linked, looped, manufactured, meshed, metamorphosed, moulded, nailed, netted, plaited, pounded, printed, produced, punched, rolled, rung, scarred, scored, scratched, sculpted, shaped, sharpened, slammed, smacked, spiraled, spun, stamped, stretched, structured, tapped, thumped, tooled, transfigured, transformed, transmogrified, transmuted, twisted, twirled, whacked, whetted, whittled, wound, woven, WROUGHT

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation, say something like:

“I was astonished to learn that the mass of all artifical material WROUGHT by man now exceeds that of all living beings.”

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