labour

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[edit] English

[edit] Alternative spellings

[edit] Etymology

From Middle English labouren < Old French laborer < Latin laborare ((intransitive) to labor, strive, exert onself, suffer, be in distress, (transitive) to work out, elaborate) < labor (labor, toil, work, exertion); perhaps remotely akin to robur (strength).

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Noun

Singular
labour

Plural
countable and uncountable; plural labours

labour (countable and uncountable; plural labours) (British, Canadian)

  1. Effort expended on a particular task; toil, work.
  2. (uncountable) Workers in general; the working class, the workforce; sometimes specifically the labour movement, organised labour.
  3. (uncountable) A political party or force aiming or claiming to represent the interests of labour.
  4. The act of a mother giving birth
  5. The time period during which a mother gives birth.

[edit] Usage notes

Like many other words ending in -our/-or, this word is spelled labour in the UK and labor in the U.S.; in Canada, labour is preferred, but labor is not unknown. In Australia, where labour is the usual spelling, labor is nonetheless enshrined in the name of the Australian Labor Party, reflecting the fact that the -or endings had some currency in Australia in the past.

[edit] Translations

[edit] Verb

Infinitive
to labour

Third person singular
labours

Simple past
laboured

Past participle
laboured

Present participle
labouring

to labour (third-person singular simple present labours, present participle labouring, simple past and past participle laboured)

  1. (intransitive) To toil, to work.
  2. (transitive) To belabour, to emphasise or expand upon (a point in a debate, etc).

[edit] Translations

[edit] Related terms

[edit] External links


[edit] Breton

[edit] Noun

labour

  1. work, job

[edit] French

[edit] Noun

labour m.

  1. cultivation

[edit] Related terms