worker

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈwɜː.kə/, US /ˈwɝː.kɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English werker, worcher, an agent noun from Middle English werken + -er, from the verb work.^[2][3][4] Old English had wyrcend “worker, labourer”.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A labourer, toiler, performer or doer: the mid-14th century in Etymonline.^[2] The OED's first quotations, from the 14th century, apply it to God as maker or creator.^[5]

Semantic evolution

A maker or craftsman is by the late 14th century,^[2] and one who does work of any kind from 1382.^[5] The bee that performs the labour of the hive is from 1747, and worker-bee by 1816.^[2] One employed for a wage, especially in manual or industrial work, is from 1848.^[2][5] In Lancashire a worker-out was a field labourer.^[6]

Timeline

• mid-14th century – a labourer.^[2]
• 1382 – one who works.^[5]
• 1747 – a worker bee.^[2]
• 1848 – one employed for a wage.^[2][5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A person who works, especially at a particular job: a social worker.
2. An employee, especially one doing manual or industrial work, as opposed to a manager.
3. A member of the working class.
4. A sterile female ant, bee or wasp that does the work of the colony.

Word family

• autoworker
• caseworker
• coworker
• dockworker
• farmworker
• glassworker
• homeworker
• houseworker

Related words

• work
• workman

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)