weorc

Old English

Alternative forms

• worc — Northumbrian, West Saxon
• werc, wærc — Mercian

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *werk, from Proto-Germanic *werką, from Proto-Indo-European *wérǵom.

Cognate with Old Frisian werk, Old Saxon werk, Old High German werk, Old Norse verk. Non-Germanic cognates include Ancient Greek ἔργον (érgon).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /we͜ork/,

Noun

weorc n

1. work, in various senses, including:
   1. labor
      • c. 996, Ælfric's Lives of Saints

        Þā ēode sē prēost eft tō his weorce.

        Then the priest went back to his work.

      • late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Saint Augustine's Soliloquies

        Gyf þonne ǣfre gebyreð þæt þū þē ful hālne and ful trumne ongytst, and hæafst æalle þīne frēond myd þē, ǣġðer ge on mōde ge on līchaman, and on ðām ilcan worce and on ðām ylcan willum ðe ðē best lyst dōn, hweðer þū ðonne wille bēon āwiht blīðe?

        If then it ever happen that thou shalt find thyself full whole and full strong, and hast all thy friends with thee, both in mind and in body, and in that same work and in that same will which pleaseth thee best to do, wilt thou then be happy at all?

   2. a creation, such as a building or a work of art
   3. act, deed

      Weorc sprecaþ swīðor þonne word.

      Actions speak louder than words.

Usage notes

• Occasionally appears to carry the sense "pain," but these instances are probably the result of scribal confusion by West Saxons unfamiliar with the Anglian word wærċ.

Declension

Derived terms

• andweorc (“material”)
• æcerweorc (“fieldwork”)
• bōcweorc (“literary work, study”)
• cræftweorc (“skilled labor”)
• dæġweorc (“a day's work”)
• ġeweorc (“work”)
• handweorc (“manual labor”)
• inweorc (“indoor work”)
• on weorce (“at work”)
• stānweorc (“stonework”)
• þēowweorc (“slave work”)
• weorccræft (“mechanics”)
• weorcdæġ (“workday”)
• weorchūs (“workshop”)
• weorcstān (“stone for building”)
• weorcsum (“laborious”)
• weorcwierþe (“qualified, able-bodied”)
• weorcþēow (“work-slave”)

Related terms

• handġeweorc
• wyrċan (“to work”)
• wyrhta (“worker”)

Descendants

• Middle English: werk, wirk, work
  • English: work
  • Geordie English: wark
  • Scots: wark
  • Yola: woork

References