English
Pronunciation
enPR : wûrk , IPA (key ) : /wɜː(ɹ)k/
Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360 : Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E . IPA (key ) : /wɜːk/ , [wɜːk]
Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360 : Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "MLE" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E . IPA (key ) : [wɜːk] , [wœːk]
Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360 : Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "Broad Geordie" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E . IPA (key ) : [wɔːk]
Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360 : Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "Liverpool" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E . IPA (key ) : [wɛːk]
Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360 : Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "DE" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E . IPA (key ) : [wʊːɹk]
Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360 : Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GenAm" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E . IPA (key ) : /wɜɹk/ , [wɚk]
Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360 : Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "New York" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E . IPA (key ) : /wɔɪ̯k/
Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360 : Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "AU" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E . IPA (key ) : /wɵːk/
Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360 : Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "NZ" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E . IPA (key ) : /wøːk/
Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)k
Etymology 1
From Middle English work , werk , from Old English weorc , from Proto-Germanic *werką , from Proto-Indo-European *wérǵom ; akin to Scots wark , Saterland Frisian Wierk , West Frisian wurk , Dutch werk , German Werk , German Low German Wark , Danish værk , Norwegian Bokmål verk , Norwegian Nynorsk verk , Swedish verk and yrke , Icelandic verk , Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌺𐌹 ( gawaurki ) , Ancient Greek ἔργον ( érgon , “ work ” ) (from ϝέργον ( wérgon ) ), Avestan 𐬬𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬰 ( vərə z , “ to work, to perform ” ) , Armenian գործ ( gorc , “ work ” ) , Albanian argëtoj ( “ entertain, reward, please ” ) . English cognates include bulwark , boulevard , energy , erg , georgic , liturgy , metallurgy , organ , surgeon , wright . Doublet of ergon .
Noun
work (countable and uncountable , plural works )
( heading, uncountable ) Employment .
Labour , occupation , job .
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:occupation
My work involves a lot of travel.
c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [ … ] (First Folio ), London: [ … ] Isaac Iaggard , and Ed[ ward] Blount , published 1623 , →OCLC , [ Act III, scene iv] , page 177 , column 1:Come on Neriſſa , I haue worke in hand / That you yet know not of; wee'll ſee our husbands / Before they thinke of vs?
1918 , W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell , chapter XV, in The Mirror and the Lamp , Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company , →OCLC :Edward Churchill still attended to his work in a hopeless mechanical manner like a sleep-walker who walks safely on a well-known round. But his Roman collar galled him, his cossack stifled him, his biretta was as uncomfortable as a merry-andrew's cap and bells.
The place where one is employed.
He hasn’t come home yet; he’s still at work .
( by extension ) One's employer.
I want to go to the reunion concert, but I'm not sure if my work will give me the time off.
( dated ) A factory ; a works .
1917 , Platers' Guide (page 246)
In trials of a Martin furnace in a steel work at Remscheiden, Germany, a lining of zirconia was found in good condition after [ …]
( heading, uncountable ) Effort .
Effort expended on a particular task.
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:work
Holding a brick over your head is hard work . It takes a lot of work to write a dictionary.
Sustained human effort to overcome obstacles and achieve a result .
We know what we must do. Let's go to work .
We don't have much time. Let's get to work piling up those sandbags.
1920 , Mary Roberts Rinehart , Avery Hopwood , chapter I, in The Bat: A Novel from the Play (Dell Book; 241 ), New York, N.Y.: Dell Publishing Company , →OCLC , page 01 :The Bat—they called him the Bat. Like a bat he chose the night hours for his work of rapine; like a bat he struck and vanished, pouncingly, noiselessly; like a bat he never showed himself to the face of the day.
Something on which effort is expended.
There's lots of work waiting for me at the office.
( physics ) A measure of energy expended in moving an object; most commonly, force times distance . No work is done if the object does not move .
Work is done against friction to drag a bag along the ground.
( physics , more generally) A measure of energy that is usefully extracted from a process.
2013 July-August, Lee S. Langston , “The Adaptable Gas Turbine ”, in American Scientist :Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo , meaning "vortex", and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work .
( heading ) Product; the result of effort.
( uncountable , often in combination) The result of a particular manner of production.
There's a lot of guesswork involved.
( uncountable , often in combination) Something produced using the specified material or tool.
We've got some paperwork to do before we can get started. The piece was decorated with intricate filigree work .
( countable ) A literary , artistic , or intellectual production .
It is a work of art.
the poetic works of Alexander Pope
c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare , “The Tragedie of Macbeth ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [ … ] (First Folio ), London: [ … ] Isaac Iaggard , and Ed[ ward] Blount , published 1623 , →OCLC , [ Act III, scene i] , page 140 , column 2:To leaue no Rubs nor Botches in the Worke :
Lua error in Module:parameters at line 828 : Parameter "url" is not used by this template.
“[…] We are engaged in a great work , a treatise on our river fortifications, perhaps? But since when did army officers afford the luxury of amanuenses in this simple republic? [ …] ”
( countable ) A fortification .
William the Conqueror fortified many castles, throwing up new ramparts, bastions and all manner of works .
( uncountable , slang , professional wrestling ) The staging of events to appear as real.
( mining ) Ore before it is dressed [ 1] .
( slang , plural only) The equipment needed to inject a drug (syringes , needles , swabs etc.)
Tell me you're using clean works at least.
1953 , William S. Burroughs, Junky [1] , Penguin Books, published 1977 , →ISBN , pages 25–26 :He gave me a sour look. “All right is it? Well, you shoot some then.” I cooked up a grain and got out my works ready to take the shot.
1996 , Paul Harding Douglas with Laura Pinsky, The Essential AIDS Fact Book , Simon and Schuster, →ISBN , page 25 :If you buy new works , clean them before using them. If you share works , clean them before you or the next person uses them. Blood may be in your works even if you can't see it. Clean your works either with rubbing alcohol (available in drugstores), a household bleach solution (three tablespoons of bleach in a cup of water), or boiling water.
Derived terms
Descendants
Translations
labour, employment, occupation, job
Afrikaans: werk (af) , arbeid (af)
Aghwan: 𐔰𐕐 ( aš )
Albanian: punë (sq) f
Amharic: ሥራ ( śəra )
Andi: гьалтӏи ( haltʼi )
Arabic: عَمَل (ar) m ( ʕamal ) , شُغْل m ( šuḡl ) , خِدْمَة f ( ḵidma ) , وَظِيفَة (ar) f ( waẓīfa )
Egyptian Arabic: شغل m ( šuḡl )
Hijazi Arabic: شغل m ( šuḡul )
Moroccan Arabic: خدمة f ( ḵedma ) , وظيفة f ( waḍīfa )
Aragonese: treball , treballo (an) m
Armenian: աշխատանք (hy) ( ašxatankʻ ) , գործ (hy) ( gorc )
Assamese: কাম ( kam )
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܦܘܼܠܚܵܢܵܐ m ( pulḳana ) , ܫܘܼܠܵܐ m ( šula )
Asturian: trabayu m
Atayal: mtzaw
Avar: хӏалтӏи ( ḥʳaltʼi )
Azerbaijani: əmək (az) , iş (az) , zəhmət
Bashkir: эш ( eş )
Basque: lan
Belarusian: пра́ца (be) f ( práca ) , рабо́та f ( rabóta )
Bengali: কাজ ( kaj ) , চাকরি ( cakri )
Bulgarian: ра́бота (bg) f ( rábota ) , труд (bg) m ( trud )
Burmese: လုပ်အား (my) ( lup-a: ) , အလုပ် (my) ( a.lup )
Catalan: treball (ca) m , feina (ca)
Chechen: болх ( bolx )
Chichewa: ntchito
Chinese:
Cantonese: 工作 ( gung1 zok3 )
Dungan: гунзуә ( gunzuə )
Mandarin: 工作 (zh) ( gōngzuò ) , 勞動 / 劳动 (zh) , 劳动 (zh) ( láodòng ) , 職業 / 职业 (zh) ( zhíyè ) , 职业 (zh) ( zhíyè )
Min Nan: 工作 (zh-min-nan) ( kang-chok / kong-chok )
Wu: 工作 ( kon tsoq )
Cia-Cia: 까라자아
Czech: práce (cs) f , zaměstnání (cs) n
Danish: arbejde (da) n , job (da) n
Dutch: werk (nl) n , job (nl) f , arbeid (nl) m
East Central German: Arbitt f , Arb f
Esperanto: laboro (eo)
Estonian: töö (et)
Ewe: dɔwɔwɔ
Extremaduran: trebahu
Finnish: työ (fi)
French: travail (fr) m , [6] (please verify ) œuvre (fr) m , [6] (please verify ) création (fr) m
Friulian: vore f
Galician: traballo (gl) m , choio m
Georgian: მუშაობა ( mušaoba )
German: Arbeit (de) f
Gothic: 𐌰𐍂𐌱𐌰𐌹𐌸𐍃 f ( arbaiþs )
Greek: έργο (el) n ( érgo ) , εργασία (el) f ( ergasía ) , δουλειά (el) f ( douleiá )
Ancient: ἔργον n ( érgon )
Greenlandic: suliaq
Hausa: aiki (ha)
Hebrew: עֲבוֹדָה (he) f ( avodá ) , מְלָאכָה (he) f ( m'lakhá ) , עָמָל (he) m ( amál )
Hindi: काम (hi) m ( kām ) , श्रम (hi) m ( śram ) , उद्योग (hi) m ( udyog ) , वृत्ति (hi) f ( vŕtti ) , कार्य (hi) m ( kārya ) , कार (hi) m ( kār ) , कर्म (hi) m ( karm ) , अमल (hi) ( amal ) , वजीफा (hi) f ( vajīphā )
Hungarian: munka (hu) , dolog (hu) , feladat (hu)
Icelandic: vinna (is) f
Indonesian: kerjaan , pekerjaan (id)
Ingrian: töö
Ingush: болх ( bolx )
Irish: obair f , saothar m
Istriot: lavur
Italian: lavoro (it) m , impiego (it) m , occupazione (it) f
Japanese: 仕事 (ja) ( しごと, shigoto ) , 労働 (ja) ( ろうどう, rōdō ) , 職業 (ja) ( しょくぎょう, shokugyō ) , ワーク (ja) ( wāku )
Kaingang: rãnhrãj
Kamba: wia
Kazakh: еңбек ( eñbek ) , жұмыс (kk) ( jūmys ) , іс (kk) ( ıs ) , қызмет ( qyzmet ) , шаруа (kk) ( şarua )
Khmer: ការងារ (km) ( kaa ngiə )
Kikuyu: wira
Komi-Permyak: удж ( udž )
Korean: 일 (ko) ( il ) , 노동(勞動) (ko) ( nodong ) , 로동 (ko) ( rodong ) ( North Korea ) , 직업(職業) (ko) ( jigeop )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: کار (ckb) ( kar ) , ئیش (ckb) ( îş )
Northern Kurdish: kar (ku) m
Kyrgyz: жумуш (ky) ( jumuş ) , иш (ky) ( iş ) , эмгек (ky) ( emgek ) , кызмат (ky) ( kızmat )
Ladino: ovra , lavoro
Lao: ງານ ( ngān ) , ນັກງານ ( nak ngān )
Latgalian: dorbs
Latin: labor (la) m
Latvian: darbs m
Lithuanian: darbas (lt) m
Livvi: ruado
Lombard: lavor , laur (lmo)
Luhya: ekasi
Luxembourgish: Aarbecht (lb) f
(deprecated template usage ) {{trans-mid }}
Macedonian: ра́бота (mk) f ( rábota )
Malay: kerja (ms)
Malayalam: ജോലി (ml) ( jōli ) , പണി (ml) ( paṇi )
Maltese: xogħol m
Mongolian: ажил (mn) ( ažil )
Mwani: kazi
Mòcheno: òrbet f
Navajo: naashnish
Neapolitan: lavoro m
Norman: travas m ( Guernsey )
Northern Sami: bargu
Norwegian:
Bokmål: arbeid (no) n , jobb (no) m , verk (no) n
Nynorsk: arbeid n , jobb m , verk n
Occitan: trabalh (oc) m
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: работа f ( rabota )
Glagolitic: ⱃⰰⰱⱁⱅⰰ f ( rabota )
Old East Slavic: робота f ( robota )
Old English: weorc n
Oriya: କାମ (or) ( kāma )
Oromo: hojii
Ossetian: куыст ( k°yst )
Pashto: کار (ps) m ( kār )
Persian: کار (fa) ( kâr ) , شغل (fa) ( šoğl )
Pipil: tekit
Plautdietsch: Oabeit f , Woakj n
Polish: praca (pl) f , robota (pl) f
Portuguese: trabalho (pt) m , emprego (pt) m
Punjabi: ਕੰਮ m ( kamm )
Romani: butǐ f
Romanian: muncă (ro) f , serviciu (ro) n , ocupație (ro) f , îndeletnicire (ro) f
Romansch: lavur f ( Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Puter, Vallader ) , lavour f ( Surmiran )
Russian: рабо́та (ru) f ( rabóta ) , труд (ru) m ( trud )
Rusyn: пра́ца f ( práca ) , робо́та f ( robóta )
Samoan: please add this translation if you can
Sanskrit: कर्मन् (sa) n ( karman ) , कार्य (sa) ( kārya )
Sardinian: trabadhu , traballu
Scots: wark
Scottish Gaelic: cosnadh m , obair (gd) f , dreuchd f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: посао m , рад m
Roman: posao (sh) m , rad (sh) m
Shor: иш
Sicilian: lavuru (scn) m , travagghiu (scn) m
Sinhalese: වැඩ ( wæḍa )
Slovak: práca (sk) f
Slovene: delo (sl) n
Somali: shaqo (so)
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: źěło n
Sotho: mosebetsi (st)
Spanish: trabajo (es) m , curro (es) m ( colloquial ) , laburo (es) m
Swahili: kazi (sw)
Swedish: arbete (sv) n , jobb (sv) n
Sylheti: ꠇꠣꠝ ( xam )
Tagalog: isi , trabaho
Tajik: кор (tg) ( kor ) , шуғл ( šuġl )
Tamil: வேலை (ta) ( vēlai )
Tatar: эш (tt) ( eş ) , хезмәт (tt) ( xezmät )
Telugu: కూలీపని ( kūlīpani ) , ఉద్యోగము (te) ( udyōgamu ) , వృత్తి (te) ( vr̥tti )
Tetum: please add this translation if you can
Thai: การงาน ( gaan-ngaan ) , งาน (th) ( ngaan ) , แรงงาน (th) ( rɛɛng-ngaan )
Tibetan: ལས་ཀ ( las ka )
Tigrinya: ስራሕ ( səraḥ )
Tongan: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: iş (tr) , meslek (tr) , emek (tr)
Turkmen: iş , zähmet (tk)
Udi: аш ( aš ) , аьш ( äš )
Udmurt: уж ( už )
Ukrainian: робо́та (uk) f ( robóta ) , пра́ця (uk) f ( prácja )
Urdu: کام m ( kām )
Uyghur: خىزمەت ( xizmet ) , ئىش ( ish )
Uzbek: ishlash (uz) , mehnat (uz) , ish (uz) , xizmat (uz)
Venetian: laoro (vec) m , laóro m
Vietnamese: việc làm (vi) , công việc (vi) (工役 )
Votic: töö
Walloon: ovraedje (wa) m or f , boutaedje (wa) m , djob (wa) m ( Wisconsin Walloon )
Welsh: gwaith (cy) m
West Frisian: wurk n
Yiddish: אַרבעט f ( arbet )
Yoruba: iṣẹ́
Zazaki: kar (diq) m , mesleg m , gure m
Zhuang: gunghcoz
ǃXóõ: ǀgáã
place where one is employed
Armenian: աշխատանք (hy) ( ašxatankʻ ) , գործ (hy) ( gorc )
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܫܘܼܠܵܐ m ( šula )
Belarusian: пра́ца (be) f ( práca )
Bulgarian: ра́бота (bg) f ( rábota ) ра́ботно мя́сто n ( rábotno mjásto )
Chinese:
Mandarin: 工作 (zh) ( gōngzuò )
Czech: zaměstnání (cs) n , práce (cs) f
Danish: arbejde (da) n , arbejdsplads c , job (da) n
Dutch: werk (nl) n , arbeidsplaats (nl) f
Ewe: dɔwɔƒe
Finnish: työ (fi) , työpaikka (fi)
French: travail (fr) m
Galician: traballo (gl) m , choio m
German: Arbeit (de) f
Hebrew: עבודה (he) f ( avodá )
Hungarian: munkahely (hu)
Irish: obair f
Italian: posto di lavoro
Japanese: 仕事場 ( shigoto-ba )
Korean: 일자리 (ko) ( iljari ) , 직장(職場) (ko) ( jikjang )
Latvian: darbs m
(deprecated template usage ) {{trans-mid }}
Macedonian: ра́бота (mk) f ( rábota )
Ndzwani Comorian: hadzi
Ngazidja Comorian: hazi class 9
Polish: praca (pl) f
Portuguese: trabalho (pt) m , emprego (pt) m
Russian: рабо́та (ru) f ( rabóta )
Scots: wark
Scottish Gaelic: obair (gd) f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: посао m
Roman: posao (sh) m
Slovene: delo (sl) n
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: źěło n
Spanish: trabajo (es) m , tajo (es) m ( colloquial ) , laburo (es) m
Swahili: kazi (sw)
Swedish: arbete (sv) n , jobb (sv) n
Turkish: iş (tr)
Ukrainian: робо́та (uk) f ( robóta ) , пра́ця (uk) f ( prácja )
Walloon: ovraedje (wa) m
Yoruba: ibi iṣẹ
effort expended on a particular task
Afrikaans: werk (af)
Armenian: աշխատանք (hy) ( ašxatankʻ )
Bulgarian: ра́бота (bg) f ( rábota ) , труд (bg) m ( trud )
Catalan: treball (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 工作 (zh) ( gōngzuò )
Czech: práce (cs) f
Danish: arbejde (da) n , job (da) n
Dutch: werk (nl) n , arbeid (nl) m
Ewe: dɔwɔwɔ
Finnish: työ (fi)
French: travail (fr) m
Galician: traballo (gl) m
Georgian: მუშაობა ( mušaoba )
German: Arbeit (de) f
Hebrew: עבודה (he) f ( avodá )
Hindi: श्रम (hi) m ( śram )
Hungarian: munka (hu) , fáradság (hu) , fáradozás (hu)
Irish: obair f
Italian: lavoro (it) , impegno (it) , fatica (it) f
Japanese: 労力 (ja) ( ろうりょく, rōryoku ) , 労働 (ja) ( ろうどう, rōdō ) , 作業 (ja) ( さぎょう, sagyō )
Korean: 노력(勞力) (ko) ( noryeok ) , 작업(作業) (ko) ( jageop )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: ئیش (ckb) ( îş )
Latvian: darbs m
Macedonian: ра́бота (mk) f ( rábota ) , труд m ( trud )
Malayalam: ജോലി (ml) ( jōli ) , അധ്വാനം (ml) ( adhvānaṁ )
(deprecated template usage ) {{trans-mid }}
Mòcheno: òrbet f
Navajo: naanish
Neapolitan: fatica
Norman: travas m ( Guernsey )
Plautdietsch: Oabeit f
Polish: praca (pl) f
Portuguese: trabalho (pt) m
Romanian: muncă (ro) f , efort (ro) n , lucrare (ro) f
Romansch: lavur f ( Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Puter, Vallader ) , lavour f ( Surmiran )
Russian: рабо́та (ru) f ( rabóta ) , труд (ru) m ( trud )
Scots: wark
Scottish Gaelic: saothair f , obair (gd) f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: рад m
Roman: rad (sh) m
Slovene: delo (sl) n
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: źěło n
Spanish: trabajo (es) m
Swahili: kazi (sw)
Swedish: arbete (sv) n
Telugu: శ్రమ (te) ( śrama )
Tocharian B: lāṃs
Turkish: emek (tr)
Venetian: laoro (vec) m , laóro m
West Frisian: wurk n , arbeid
Yiddish: אַרבעט f ( arbet )
result of a particular manner of production
literary, artistic, or intellectual production
Arabic: مُصَنَّف m ( muṣannaf ) , مُؤَلَّف m ( muʔallaf ) , عَمَل (ar) m ( ʕamal )
Armenian: աշխատանք (hy) ( ašxatankʻ ) , գործ (hy) ( gorc ) , ստեղծագործություն (hy) ( steġcagorcutʻyun )
Azerbaijani: əsər (az)
Bashkir: әҫәр ( əśər )
Bulgarian: произведе́ние (bg) n ( proizvedénie ) , израбо́тка (bg) f ( izrabótka )
Catalan: obra (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 作品 (zh) ( zuòpǐn ) , 著作 (zh) ( zhùzuò )
Czech: dílo (cs) n , (a master work, craftsmanship) mistrovská práce f
Danish: værk (da) n
Dutch: werk (nl) n , werkstuk (nl) n
Esperanto: verko (eo) , verkaĵo
Estonian: teos
Finnish: teos (fi)
French: travail (fr) m , œuvre (fr)
Friulian: opare f
Galician: traballo (gl) m , obra (gl) f
German: Werk (de) n
Hebrew: עבודה (he) f ( avodá ) , מלאכה (he) f ( melakhá )
Hindi: प्रबंध (hi) m ( prabandh )
Hungarian: mű (hu) , alkotás (hu) , műalkotás (hu) , munka (hu)
Irish: saothar m
Italian: lavoro (it) m , opera (it) f , creazione (it) f
(deprecated template usage ) {{trans-mid }}
Japanese: 作品 (ja) ( さくひん, sakuhin ) , 著作 (ja) ( ちょさく, chosaku )
Korean: 작품(作品) (ko) ( jakpum ) , 저작(著作) (ko) ( jeojak )
Latin: opus (la)
Latvian: darbs m
Macedonian: де́ло n ( délo ) , труд m ( trud )
Malay: karya (ms)
Malayalam: കൃതി (ml) ( kr̥ti ) ( literary work )
Occitan: òbra (oc) f
Polish: dzieło (pl) n , utwór (pl) m inan
Portuguese: obra (pt) f , trabalho (pt) m
Romanian: operă (ro) f , creație (ro) f , lucrare (ro) f
Romansch: ovra f ( Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran ) , ouvra f ( Puter, Vallader )
Russian: рабо́та (ru) f ( rabóta ) , труд (ru) m ( trud ) , произведе́ние (ru) n ( proizvedénije )
Scots: wark
Scottish Gaelic: obair (gd) f , saothair f
Serbo-Croatian: rad (sh) m , djelo (sh) n
Slovene: delo (sl) n
Spanish: obra (es) f
Swahili: kazi (sw)
Swedish: verk (sv) n
Telugu: మేధాశక్తి ( mēdhāśakti )
Turkish: eser (tr) , yapıt (tr)
Uzbek: asar (uz)
Vietnamese: tác phẩm (vi)
Walloon: ouve (wa) f
Yiddish: ווערק n ( verk )
Zazaki: vıraşte m , eser m
physics: measure of energy expended in moving an object
wrestling: staging of events
Translations to be checked
Albanian: (please verify ) punë (sq)
Ancient Greek: (please verify ) ἔργον n ( érgon ) (1,2,5,7,8)
Arabic: (please verify ) عَمَل (ar) m ( ʕamal )
Basque: (please verify ) lan
Breton: (please verify ) labour (br) m , ( 1 ) (please verify ) labourioù (br) pl , (please verify ) oberenn f , ( 3 ) (please verify ) oberennoù (br) pl
Bulgarian: (please verify ) работа (bg) f ( rabota )
Catalan: (please verify ) treball (ca) m
Franco-Provençal: (please verify ) ôvra f , (please verify ) besogne f
French: (please verify ) travail (fr) m
German: ( 1,2,3,6,7 ) (please verify ) Arbeit (de) f , ( 4,5 ) (please verify ) Werk (de) n
(deprecated template usage ) {{trans-mid }}
Ido: (please verify ) laboro (io) , ( 1 ) (please verify ) laborajo , ( 4 ) (please verify ) verko (io) .
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: (please verify ) kar (ku) m , (please verify ) îş (ku) m , (please verify ) ked (ku) f , (please verify ) şol (ku) m , (please verify ) şuxl (ku) m , (please verify ) xebat (ku) f , (please verify ) çalakî (ku) f , (please verify ) wezîfe (ku) f , (please verify ) erk (ku) m , (please verify ) vatinî (ku) f
Lao: (please verify ) ວຽກ ( wīak )
Marathi: (please verify ) काम ( kām ) , (please verify ) कार्य ( kārya ) , (please verify ) कर्म (mr) ( karma )
Persian: (please verify ) کار (fa) ( kâr )
Romanian: (please verify ) muncă (ro) f , (please verify ) treabă (ro) f , (please verify ) operă (ro) f , (please verify ) lucrare (ro) f
Slovak: (please verify ) robota (sk) f
Swahili: (please verify ) kazi (sw) class 9 /10 (1,2)
Telugu: (please verify ) పని (te) ( pani ) (1, 2), (please verify ) ఉద్యొగము ( udyogamu ) (1), (please verify ) శ్రమ (te) ( śrama ) (2)
See also
( product (combining form) ) : -ing
Etymology 2
From Middle English werken and worchen , from Old English wyrċan and wircan (Mercian), from Proto-Germanic *wurkijaną ( “ to work ” ) , from Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- ( “ to work ” ) . Cognate with Old Frisian werka , wirka , Old Saxon wirkian , Low German warken , Dutch werken , Old High German wurken (German wirken , werken and werkeln ), Old Norse yrkja and orka , (Swedish yrka and orka ), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌺𐌾𐌰𐌽 ( waurkjan ) .
Verb
work (third-person singular simple present works , present participle working , simple past and past participle worked or ( rare/archaic ) wrought )
( intransitive ) To do a specific task by employing physical or mental powers .
He’s working in a bar.
Followed by in (or at , etc.) Said of one's workplace (building), or one's department, or one's trade (sphere of business).
I work in a national park
she works in the human resources department
he mostly works in logging, but sometimes works in carpentry
Followed by as . Said of one's job title
1918 , W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell , chapter XVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp , Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company , →OCLC :This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything.
I work as a cleaner.
Followed by for . Said of a company or individual who employs .
she works for Microsoft
he works for the president
Followed by with . General use, said of either fellow employees or instruments or clients .
I work closely with my Canadian counterparts
you work with computers
she works with the homeless people from the suburbs
( intransitive ) To effect by gradual degrees;
to work into the earth
( transitive ) To effect by gradual degrees .
he worked his way through the crowd
the dye worked its way through
using some tweezers, she worked the bee sting out of her hand
1712 , Joseph Addison , Cato, a Tragedy
So the pure, limpid stream, when foul with stains / Of rushing torrents and descending rains, / Works itself clear, and as it runs, refines, / Till by degrees the floating mirror shines.
( transitive ) To embroider with thread .
( transitive ) To set into action .
He worked the levers.
( transitive ) To cause to ferment .
( intransitive ) To ferment .
1612 , Francis Bacon, Essay on Natural History
the working of beer when the barm is put in
( transitive ) To exhaust , by working.
The mine was worked until the last scrap of ore had been extracted.
1774 , Edward Long , The History of Jamaica. Or, General Survey of the Antient and Modern State of that Island , volume 2, chapter 11, 240 :
They were told of a ſilver mine, that had been worked by the Spaniards, ſomewhere in the Healthſhire Hills, in St. Catharine; but they were not able to diſcover it.
( transitive ) To shape , form , or improve a material .
He used pliers to work the wire into shape .
( transitive ) To operate in a certain place, area, or speciality .
she works the night clubs
the salesman works the Midwest
( transitive ) To operate in or through; as, to work the phones.
( transitive ) To provoke or excite ; to influence .
The rock musician worked the crowd of young girls into a frenzy.
( transitive ) To use or manipulate to one’s advantage .
She knows how to work the system.
( transitive , law ) To cause to happen or to occur as a consequence .
I cannot work a miracle.
2022 , Sawnee Electric Membership Corporation Bylaws , Article III, Section 3.01:
Failure to hold the annual meeting, or to otherwise conduct the business of the annual meeting, shall not work a forfeiture or dissolution of the Cooperative.
( transitive ) To cause to work .
He is working his servants hard.
( intransitive ) To function correctly ; to act as intended ; to achieve the goal designed for.
2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman , “The tao of tech ”, in The Guardian Weekly , volume 189 , number 2, page 48 :The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about [ …] and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention. Partly, this is a result of how online advertising has traditionally worked : advertisers pay for clicks, and a click is a click, however it's obtained.
he pointed at the car and asked, "Does it work "?; he looked at the bottle of pain pills, wondering if they would work ; my plan didn’t work
( intransitive , figuratively ) To influence .
They worked on her to join the group.
( intransitive ) To move in an agitated manner .
His fingers worked with tension.
A ship works in a heavy sea.
1705 , Joseph Addison , Remarks on several parts of Italy, &c., in the years 1701, 1702, 1703
confused with working sands and rolling waves
( intransitive ) To behave in a certain way when handled
this dough does not work easily; the soft metal works well
( ditransitive , poetic ) To cause (someone) to feel (something); to do unto somebody (something, whether good or bad).
1885 , Richard F. Burton , The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night :
And indeed I blamed myself and sore repented me of having taken compassion on him and continued in this condition, suffering fatigue not to be described, till I said to myself, "I wrought him a weal and he requited me with my ill; by Allah, never more will I do any man a service so long as I live!"
1909 , Robert W[illiam] Service , “The Ballad of One-eyed Mike”, in Ballads of a Cheechako , Toronto, Ont.: William Briggs , →OCLC , stanza 12, pages 54–55 :So sad it seemed, and its cheek-bones gleamed, and its fingers flicked the shore; / And it lapped and lay in a weary way, and its hands met to implore; / That I gently said: "Poor, restless dead, I would never work you woe; / Though the wrong you rue you can ne'er undo, I forgave you long ago."
( obsolete , intransitive ) To hurt ; to ache .
( slang , transitive ) To pull off ; to wear, perform, etc. successfully or to advantage.
I would never have thought those pieces would go together, but she is working it like nobody's business.
Conjugation
Derived terms
phrasal verbs derived from work (verb)
other terms derived from the work (verb)
Translations
to do a specific task
Afrikaans: werk (af)
Albanian: punoj (sq)
Aleut: awal
Arabic: عَمِلَ (ar) ( ʕamila ) , اِشْتَغَلَ ( ištaḡala )
Egyptian Arabic: اشتغل ( ištaḡal )
Moroccan Arabic: خدم ( ḵedem )
South Levantine Arabic: اشتغل ( ištáḡal )
Aragonese: treballar
Armenian: աշխատել (hy) ( ašxatel )
Aromanian: lucredz , lucredzu
Assamese: কাম কৰা ( kam kora )
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܦܵܠܹܚ ( paleḳ )
Asturian: trabayar
Azerbaijani: çalışmaq (az) , işləmək (az)
Bashkir: эшләү ( eşləw )
Basque: lan egin
Belarusian: працава́ць impf ( pracavácʹ ) , рабі́ць impf ( rabícʹ )
Bengali: কাজ করা ( kaj kora )
Bulgarian: рабо́тя (bg) impf ( rabótja ) , трудя́ се impf ( trudjá se )
Burmese: လုပ် (my) ( lup ) , အလုပ်လုပ် ( a.luplup )
Catalan: treballar (ca)
Cherokee: ᏚᎸᏫᏍᏓᏁᎭ ( dulvwisdaneha )
Chichewa: -gwira ntchito
Chickasaw: toksali
Chinese:
Cantonese: 工作 ( gung1 zok3 )
Hakka: 工作 ( kûng-chok )
Mandarin: 工作 (zh) ( gōngzuò )
Min Dong: 工作 ( gŭng-cáuk )
Min Nan: 工作 (zh-min-nan) ( kang-chok, kong-chok )
Wu: 工作 ( kon tsoq )
Xiang: 工作 ( gong1 zo6 )
Chuvash: ӗҫле ( ĕśle )
Czech: pracovat (cs) impf
Dalmatian: stentur
Danish: arbejde (da)
Dutch: werken (nl)
East Central German: arbittn
Esperanto: labori
Estonian: töötama (et)
Ewe: wɔ dɔ
Extremaduran: trebahal
Faroese: arbeiða
Finnish: työskennellä (fi) , tehdä työtä , olla töissä
French: travailler (fr) , ( slang ) bosser (fr)
Friulian: lavorâ
Galician: traballar (gl)
Georgian: მუშაობა ( mušaoba )
German: arbeiten (de)
Gothic: 𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌺𐌾𐌰𐌽 ( waurkjan ) , 𐌰𐍂𐌱𐌰𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 ( arbaidjan )
Greek: δουλεύω (el) ( doulévo )
Ancient: ἐργάζομαι ( ergázomai )
Greenlandic: sulivoq
Haitian Creole: travay
Hebrew: עָבַד (he) ( avád )
Hindi: काम करना ( kām karnā )
Hungarian: dolgozik (hu)
Icelandic: vinna (is) , starfa , sýsla , iðja (is)
Indonesian: bekerja (id)
Interlingua: laborar
Irish: oibrigh
Istriot: lavurà
Italian: lavorare (it)
Japanese: 働く (ja) ( はたらく, hataraku )
Javanese: gawé (jv)
Kazakh: жұмыс істеу ( jūmys ısteu ) , істеу (kk) ( ısteu )
Khmer: ធ្វើការ ( thvəə kaa )
Korean: 일하다 (ko) ( ilhada )
Kyrgyz: иштөө (ky) ( iştöö ) , жумуш кылуу ( jumuş kıluu )
Lao: ທຳງານ ( tham ngān )
Latgalian: dareit , prācavuot
(deprecated template usage ) {{trans-mid }}
Latin: labōrō (la) , operor
Latvian: strādāt
Lingala: kosála
Lithuanian: dirbti (lt)
Livvi: ruadua
Lombard: lavorà (lmo) , laurà
Low German: warken (nds)
Luxembourgish: schaffen (lb)
Lü: ᦵᦣᧆᦉᦱᧂᧉ ( hedṡaang² )
Macedonian: работи impf ( raboti )
Malay: bekerja
Malayalam: പ്രവർത്തിക്കുക (ml) ( pravaṟttikkuka )
Maltese: ħadem
Maore Comorian: ufanya hazi
Maori: mahi , awheawhe ( as a group ) , whakarīrā ( hard )
Mongolian: ажил (mn) ( ažil )
Navajo: naʼanish
Neapolitan: faticà
Ngazidja Comorian: hufanya hazi
Norman: travailli ( Jersey )
Norwegian: arbeide (no) , jobbe (no)
Occitan: trabalhar (oc)
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: дѣлати impf ( dělati ) , работати impf ( rabotati )
Old Javanese: gaway
Oromo: hojjechuu
Pennsylvania German: schaffe
Persian: کار کردن (fa) ( kâr kardan )
Pipil: tekiti , tequiti
Polish: pracować (pl) impf
Portuguese: trabalhar (pt)
Quechua: llamk'ay
Romanian: face (ro) , munci (ro) , lucra (ro)
Russian: рабо́тать (ru) impf ( rabótatʹ ) , труди́ться (ru) impf ( trudítʹsja ) , де́лать (ru) impf ( délatʹ )
Samoan: galue
Sardinian: traballai
Scots: wirk
Scottish Gaelic: obraich
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: радити impf
Roman: raditi (sh) impf
Sicilian: travagghiari (scn)
Sinhalese: වැඩ කරනවා ( wæḍa karanawā )
Slovak: pracovať impf
Slovene: delati (sl) impf
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: źěłaś
Upper Sorbian: dźěłać (hsb) impf
Sotho: sebetsa (st)
Spanish: trabajar (es) , laburar (es) ( Lat. Am., colloquial )
Swahili: kufanya kazi
Swedish: jobba (sv) , arbeta (sv) ( as part of an employment )
Sylheti: ꠇꠣꠝ ꠇꠞꠣ ( xam xora )
Tagalog: \magtrabaho
Tajik: кор кардан (tg) ( kor kardan )
Tamil: வேலை செய் ( vēlai cey )
Tatar: эшләргә (tt) ( eşlärgä )
Thai: ทำงาน (th) ( tam-ngaan )
Tibetan: ལས་ཀ་བྱེད ( las ka byed )
Tocharian B: lāṃs-
Turkish: çalışmak (tr) , işlemek (tr)
Turkmen: işlemek (tk)
Ukrainian: працюва́ти (uk) impf ( pracjuváty ) , труди́тися impf ( trudýtysja ) , роби́ти (uk) impf ( robýty )
Urdu: کام کرنا ( kām karnā )
Uzbek: ishlamoq (uz) , mehnat qilmoq
Vietnamese: làm việc (vi) (爫役 )
Volapük: vobön (vo)
Walloon: ovrer (wa) , bouter (wa)
Welsh: gweithio (cy)
West Frisian: wurkje (fy)
White Hmong: ua hauj lwm
Yiddish: אַרבעטן ( arbetn )
Zazaki: guriyen (diq)
ǃXóõ: ǀgáã
effect by gradual degrees (transitive)
operate in a certain place, area, or specialty.
to function correctly; to act as intended; to achieve the goal designed for
Arabic: سَارَ (ar) ( sāra )
Armenian: աշխատել (hy) ( ašxatel )
Bulgarian: работя (bg) ( rabotja )
Chichewa: -gwira ntchito
Chinese:
Mandarin: 運行 良好 / 运行 良好 ( yùnxíng liánghǎo ) , 运行 良好 ( yùnxíngliánghǎo ) , 生效 (zh) ( shēngxiào )
Czech: fungovat (cs)
Danish: virke
Dutch: werken (nl)
Esperanto: funkcii
Ewe: wɔ dɔ
Finnish: toimia (fi)
French: marcher (fr) , fonctionner (fr)
German: funktionieren (de) , wirken (de)
Greek: λειτουργώ (el) ( leitourgó )
Haitian Creole: mache
Hebrew: עבד (he) ( 'avád )
Hindi: काम करना ( kām karnā )
Hungarian: ( to function ) működik (hu) , ( to act as intended ) beválik (hu) , összejön (hu)
Italian: funzionare (it)
Khmer: ដើរ (km) ( daə )
(deprecated template usage ) {{trans-mid }}
Latin: operor ( post-Classical )
Macedonian: ра́боти ( ráboti )
Malayalam: പ്രവർത്തിക്കുക (ml) ( pravaṟttikkuka )
Nepali: चल्नु (ne) ( calnu )
Norwegian: fungere (no) , virke (no) , gå (no)
Persian: کار کردن (fa) ( kâr kardan )
Polish: działać (pl)
Portuguese: funcionar (pt)
Quechua: llamk'ay
Romanian: lucra (ro) , funcţiona (ro)
Russian: рабо́тать (ru) impf ( rabótatʹ )
Scots: wirk
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: радити , функционисати
Roman: raditi (sh) , funcionisati
Spanish: funcionar (es) , marchar (es) , (please verify ) ser eficaz ( of medicine )
Swedish: fungera (sv) , gå (sv) ( of machinery, or abstractly ) , funka (sv)
Tamil: வேலை செய் ( vēlai cey )
Thai: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: çalışmak (tr) , iş görmek (tr) , işe yaramak (tr)
Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
Zazaki: kar kerden , kar vinen
effect by gradual degrees (intransitive)
move in an agitated manner
behave in a certain way when handled.
Translations to be checked
Further reading
"work" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 334.
References
Chinese
Etymology
From English work .
Pronunciation
Verb
work ( Hong Kong Cantonese )
to function correctly ; to act as intended
to be effective
Adjective
work ( Hong Kong Cantonese )
working as intended ; functioning
effective
References