sweat of one's brow
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English
Etymology
A reference to Genesis 3:17 and 19 in the Bible (King James Version; spelling modernized):[1] “And unto Adam he said, because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground: ”,[2] meaning that due to disobedience to God, humans would henceforth have to exert labour for their food, causing their brows or foreheads to perspire.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈswɛt əv wɒnz ˈbɹaʊ/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈswɛt əv wʌnz ˈbɹaʊ/
Audio (General Australian): (file) - Rhymes: -aʊ
Noun
sweat of one's brow (uncountable)
- (idiomatic) The effort extended in (often manual) labour, and the value created thereby.
- Synonyms: (obsolete) sweat of one's brows, sweat of one's face
- 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 12: The Cyclops]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, , →OCLC, part II , page 285:
- So anyhow Terry brought the three pints Joe was standing and begob the sight nearly left my eyes when I saw him land out a quid. O, as true as I'm telling you. A goodlooking sovereign. / ― And there's more where that came from, says he. / ― Were you robbing the poorbox, Joe? say I? / ― Sweat of my brow, says Joe. 'Twas the prudent member gave me the wheeze.
- 1991 March 27, Sandra Day O'Connor writing for the Supreme Court of the United States in Feist Publications, Inc., v. Rural Telephone Service Co.:
- Making matters worse, these courts developed a new theory to justify the protection of factual compilations. Known alternatively as "sweat of the brow" or "industrious collection," the underlying notion was that copyright was a reward for the hard work that went into compiling facts.
Related terms
Translations
effort extended in labour, and the value created thereby
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References
- ^ “the sweat of (one’s) brow (†brows), face, etc.” under “sweat, n.”, in OED Online
, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1918; “by the sweat of one’s brow, phrase”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- ^ The Holy Bible, (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , 1611, →OCLC, Genesis 3:17 and 19: “And vnto Adam he ſaid, Becauſe thou haſt hearkened vnto the voyce of thy wife, and haſt eaten of the tree, [...] In the ſweate of thy face ſhalt thou eate bread, till thou returne vnto the ground: [...]”; Bible (New International Version), 1984, Genesis 3:19: “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
Further reading
- “the sweat of somebody's brow” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.
- “by the sweat of your brow” (US) / “by the sweat of your brow” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.
- “by the sweat of one’s brow”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.