workman

Etymology

From Middle English werkman, from Old English weorcmann (“workman”), from Proto-West Germanic *werkamann, from Proto-Germanic *werkamann- (“workman”), equivalent to work + -man. Compare Dutch werkman (“workman”), German Werkmann (“labourer, workman”), Icelandic verkamaður (“workman”).

noun

  1. A man who labours for wages.
    He laid the foundation stone on August 1 1847, and then set around 2,000 workmen loose on the undertaking. The station opened exactly one year later on August 1 1848. December 29 2021, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques: Chester (1848)”, in RAIL, number 947, page 58
  2. An artisan or craftsman.

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