werk Dutch · revision 37156

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 8th century, Old Dutch (Utrecht baptismal vow)|origins=ine-pro *werǵ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ʋɛrk/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''werk''' ''n'' (plural werken, diminutive werkje n)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|dum|werc]], [[inh|odt|werc]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*werk]], [[inh|gem-pro|*werką|t=work, deed]].^(EWN)^(Wiktionary)^(Kroonen 2013) The same word is [[osx|werk]], [[goh|werc]] (modern [[de|Werk]]), [[ofs|werk]] (modern [[fy|wurk]]), [[ang|weorc]] (modern [[en|work]]) and [[non|verk]], all meaning “work, labour”.^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)^(Kroonen 2013) Middle Dutch also wrote it ⟨warc⟩ and ⟨weerc⟩.^(EWN)^(MNW)

+

+ The Germanic noun continues [[ine-pro|*wérǵom|t=work]], from the root [[m|ine-pro|*werǵ-|t=to do, make, work]].^(EWN)^(Wiktionary)^(Kroonen 2013) Outside Germanic the root gave [[grc|ἔργον|tr=érgon|t=work]] (the source of [[energie]] and [[allergie]]), [[m|grc|ἔρδω|tr=érdō|t=to do, sacrifice]], [[ae|varəza-|t=working]], [[sga|fairged|t=makes]], [[obt|gwerg|t=active]] and [[xcl|գործ|tr=gorc|t=work]].^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912) The verb [[werken]] was formed from the noun already in Proto-Germanic.^(EWN)^(Kroonen 2013)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The word is first recorded in the Old Dutch baptismal vow from Utrecht (late 8th century), whose candidate renounces the devil ''end allum dioboles uuercum'' “and all the devil's works”, in the plural sense “deeds”.^(EWN)^(ONW)^(Van der Sijs 2001) In the Egmond Williram of about 1100 ''guode werk'' are good works that lead to salvation.^(ONW) Middle Dutch ''werc'' appears around 1200 in Limburg, in a line about the deeds of Saint Servatius.^(EWN)^(VMNW)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The oldest records use the word for a deed, especially a good or evil one in the religious sense, which modern Dutch keeps in ''goede werken'' and ''werken van de duisternis''.^(ONW)^(Van Dale 2014) In the 13th century it already covered a task, building work, fortifications, siege engines and wrought metal, as well as a product of work such as a woven piece or a book.^(VMNW) The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal sets out the same range from the 16th century on: a deed, the work one does every day, a task, and the thing made.^(WNT) The modern dictionaries add “employment” and “a mechanism”.^(WNT)^(Van Dale 2014)

+

+ Proverbs about work are old: ''een goed begin is het halve werk'' is first written down in the 17th century by De Brune, after a Greek saying that Horace also echoed.^(Stoett 1923) ''Het is geen aangenomen werk'', “there is no hurry”, refers to work contracted to be done by a fixed date.^(Stoett 1923)^(Van Dale 2014)

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+ The word went abroad with Dutch speakers: Negerhollands had ''werk'' and ''wark'', and Indonesian ''werek'' means a man who recruits labourers.^(Van der Sijs 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * late 8th century – Old Dutch ''uuercum'' “works” appears in the Utrecht baptismal vow.^(EWN)^(ONW)

+ * c. 1100 – ''Guode werk'' “good works” in the Egmond Williram.^(ONW)

+ * c. 1200 – Middle Dutch ''werken'' “deeds” of Saint Servatius, in Limburg.^(EWN)^(VMNW)

+ * 1240 – ''Werc'' glosses Latin ''opus'' in a Limburg word list.^(VMNW)

+ * 17th century – '''t Beghin is 't halve werck'', the proverb about a good start, is recorded by De Brune.^(Stoett 1923)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|work]], [[m|en|labour]]: the doing of a task.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # What has to be done, a task or [[m|en|chore]].^(Van Dale 2014)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+ # A [[m|en|job]], employment as a source of income.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The [[m|en|workplace]].^(Wiktionary)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+ # A product of work or art, a [[m|en|creation]], such as a book or painting.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A deed, in phrases such as ''goede werken'' “good works”.^(Van Dale 2014)

+ # A [[m|en|mechanism]], the moving parts of a device.^(Van Dale 2014)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[monnikenwerk]]

+ * [[werken]]

+ * [[aardewerk]]

+ * [[boekwerk]]

+ * [[breiwerk]]

+ * [[broddelwerk]]

+ * [[glaswerk]]

+ * [[haakwerk]]

+ * [[huiswerk]]

+ * [[kantoorwerk]]

+ * [[knoeiwerk]]

+ * [[kunstwerk]]

+ * [[liefdewerk]]

+ * [[meesterwerk]]

+ * [[werkloos]]

+ * [[werknemer]]

+ * [[werkgever]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|work]]

+ * [[de|Werk]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Another ''werk'', meaning the coarse fibres of flax or hemp left in the hackle ([[m|en|tow]], [[m|en|oakum]]), is recorded in Middle Dutch around 1240.^(Van der Sijs 2001)^(MNW)^(WNT) The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal gives it an article of its own and leaves open whether it is the same word applied to weaving or belongs to a root meaning “to bind, plait”.^(WNT)^(De Vries 1971) Kroonen reconstructs it as a separate Proto-Germanic noun meaning “rope”, as in German [[m|de|Werg]].^(Kroonen 2013) Sailors used it to caulk the seams of ships.^(Winschoten 1681)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}