worksheet

Etymology

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

Earliest recorded meaning

Apparently a single sheet of a literary work, only before another noun: 1823, in Isaac D'Israeli's Curiosities of Literature, a rare use that soon died out.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The current senses date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.^[2] A sheet printed with exercises or questions for students appears in 1892, in an advertisement in W. T. Stead's Elector's Guide,^[2] though Etymonline finds this sense only by 1966.^[3] A record of jobs to be done, duties or hours worked follows in 1921,^[2] and a sheet for notes and calculations about work in progress in 1925;^[2] Etymonline dates the latter sense to 1909^[3] and Dictionary.com the word to 1920–25.^[4] With the spread of personal computers it came in 1982 to mean one grid of cells within a spreadsheet program.^[2]

Timeline

• 1823 – apparently a single sheet of a literary work (now obsolete).^[2]
• 1892 – a sheet of exercises or questions for students.^[2]
• 1909 – a paper with notes about a work in progress.^[3]
• 1921 – a record of jobs to be done or hours worked.^[2]
• 1982 – in computing, a single grid of cells in a spreadsheet.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sheet of paper with exercises or questions for a pupil or student to complete: The teacher handed out a worksheet on fractions.^[5][2]
2. A sheet used for notes, calculations or a rough draft of a problem or design.^[5][2]
3. A record of work planned or in progress, such as jobs to be done or hours worked.^[5][2]
4. (computing) A single grid of cells within a spreadsheet program, often one of several in a workbook.^[2]

Related words

• workbook
• spreadsheet

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins