Meaning

noun a painful muscle spasm especially in the neck or back (`rick' and `wrick' are British)

verb twist suddenly so as to sprain

originFrom Middle English wricken, probably from Middle Dutch wricken (Modern Dutch wrikken (“to wriggle”)) or Middle Low German wricken (“to move jerkily; sprain”), from Proto-Germanic *wrigōną (“to wriggle”), from Proto-Indo-European *wreyḱ- (“to turn, wrap, tie”), from *wer- (“to turn, bend”). See also Low German wriggen, German Low German wricken (“to row; scull; move back and forth”)). Compare…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0