housework

Etymology

It is a compound from English house + work.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Regular work done in keeping a house: 1613, in Barnabe Rich's Excellency of Good Women.^[4][5] The sources disagree widely on the first date: Dictionary.com gives 1570–80,^[3] Etymonline 1774, from an advertisement for a chambermaid,^[2] and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate 1835.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The OED notes that the word now refers especially to cleaning and tidying.^[4] Etymonline's 1774 example, an advertisement in the Ipswich Journal, asks for a chambermaid who could sew, do some housework and help in the kitchen.^[2] Collins records houseworker for someone who does it.^[7]

Timeline

• 1613 – domestic work in keeping a house.^[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The work of running a home, such as cleaning, cooking, tidying and washing: He does most of the housework at weekends.^[7][5][4]

Word family

• houseworker

Related words

• house
• work
• housekeeping
• housewife
• homework

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins