job English · revision 2161

− The origin of job is uncertain.^(Etymonline)^(RHWU)^(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)

− 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)

− * 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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

− # To [[subcontract]] (work).^(AHD)

− * [[jab]]