job English · revision 1992

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=1557 (jobbe of worke)}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /dʒɒb/, US /dʒɑːb/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin of job is uncertain.^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary)^(COED 2004) It first appears in the phrase jobbe of worke (1557),^(Barnhart 1988) and Etymonline, Barnhart and MWU suggest it is a variant of [[m|enm|gobbe|t=lump, mass]] (see [[gob]]), perhaps through a sense “cartload”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) Hoad and Word Origins point to an obsolete job “piece, lump” (14th century) and “cartload” (16th century), itself of unknown origin.^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) The verb job “to jab, prod” (Late Middle English) is a separate word, apparently imitative,^(SOED 2002)^(NODE 1998)^(Klein 1966) and the name Job comes through Latin and Greek from [[he|איוב|tr=Iyyōbh]].^(MW Collegiate)^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A piece of work, a task, in the phrase ''jobbe of worke'' (1557),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) which suggests that ''job'' and ''work'' did not then mean the same thing.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By the early 17th century ''job'' alone meant a piece of work (before 1627, in Middleton),^(Barnhart 1988) and by 1660, in Pepys, a piece of work done for pay or profit.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Johnson defined it as “a low mean lucrative busy affair” and “petty, piddling work”,^(Etymonline) and the verb meant “to buy and sell as a broker” in the 1660s, “to deal in stocks” from 1721 and “to turn public service to private advantage” from 1732.^(Etymonline) The general sense “an affair, a state of things” (''a good job'') is colloquial from about 1700,^(Etymonline) and thieves' slang used ''job'' for a planned crime from 1722.^(Etymonline) The sense “paid position, employment” was first American, from 1858.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Printers called miscellaneous small work, such as posters and handbills, ''job work'' from 1795.^(Etymonline) ''Job lot'' (1832) keeps an obsolete sense “cartload, lump”.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Later compounds include ''job description'' (1920) and ''job security'' (1932),^(Etymonline) and ''jobsworth'', from “more than my job's worth”, was popularized by the BBC series ''That's Life'' (1973–94).^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1557 – ''jobbe of worke'', a piece of work.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1627 – ''job'' alone, a piece of work (Middleton).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1660 – work done for pay or profit (Pepys).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1660s – verb, to buy and sell as a broker.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1694 – anything one has to do, a business or affair.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1700 – a state of things.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1721 – verb, to deal in stocks.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1722 – a planned crime (thieves' slang).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1732 – verb, to turn public service to private profit.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1795 – printers' ''job work''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1832 – ''job lot''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1858 – a paid position (American).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1882 – ''on the job''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1920 – ''job description''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1927 – an example or specimen (slang).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A regular paid position; [[employment]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A piece of work; a [[task]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A duty or responsibility: ''it's your job to lock up''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' A difficult task: ''I had a job finding it''.^(Collins 2023)

+ # A state of affairs: ''it's a good job you came''.^(Collins 2023)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(informal)'' A crime, especially a robbery.^(Collins 2023)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(informal)'' An example or specimen of something.^(Collins 2023)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(computing)'' A task or program run by a computer.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To do odd jobs or piecework.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To buy (goods) from makers and sell them to retailers; act as a middleman.^(AHD)

+ # To [[subcontract]] (work).^(AHD)

+ # To use (public office) dishonestly for private profit.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gob]]

+ * [[jobber]]

+ * [[jobbery]]

+ * [[jab]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}