werken

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʋɛrkə(n)/

• audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛrkən

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch werken, from Old Dutch wirken, from Proto-West Germanic *wirkijan, from Proto-Germanic *wirkijaną (“to work, make”), from Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- (“to work, act”).

Verb

werken

1. (intransitive) to work, labour

   Hij werkt elke dag op het bouwterrein.

   He works at the construction site every day.

   Na een paar uur werken was het project voltooid.

   After a few hours of working, the project was completed.

2. (intransitive) to function, work, be in working order

   De machine is oud, maar hij werkt nog steeds prima.

   The machine is old, but it still functions perfectly.

3. (intransitive) to warp, settle

   De planken begonnen te werken door het vocht.

   The planks started to warp due to the moisture.

4. (transitive, amateur radio) to contact

   Ik heb gisteravond een paar andere radioamateurs gewerkt in een DX-wedstrijd.

   Last night, I made contact with a few other radio amateurs in a DX contest.

Inflection

Much like wrought (past form of work) in English, all verb forms based on -wrocht- are considered to be archaic or obsolete.

Synonyms

(labour):

• arbeiden
• zwoegen

(function):

• functioneren
• het doen

Derived terms

Descendants

• Afrikaans: werk
• Jersey Dutch: wärke
• Negerhollands: werk, wark

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

werken

1. plural of werk

German

Etymology

From Middle High German wërken, from Old High German werkōn, werhōn, from Proto-Germanic *werkōną. Cognate with Old Saxon werkōn, Old Dutch wirkon.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

werken (weak, third-person singular present werkt, past tense werkte, past participle gewerkt, auxiliary haben)

1. to do handicraft, especially woodwork

   Synonym: (more common) werkeln

2. (dated, literary or informal) to work manually

   Synonyms: arbeiten, schuften, (colloquial) ackern, malochen

Conjugation

Derived terms

• herumwerken
• werkeln
• Werken

Related terms

• werktätig
• Werk
• Werktag
• wirken

Further reading

• “werken” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “werken” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “werken” in Duden online
• “werken” in OpenThesaurus.de

Mapudungun

Noun

werken (Raguileo spelling)

1. messenger

References

• Wixaleyiñ: Mapucezugun-wigkazugun pici hemvlcijka (Wixaleyiñ: Small Mapudungun-Spanish dictionary), Beretta, Marta; Cañumil, Dario; Cañumil, Tulio, 2008.

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch wirken, from Proto-Germanic *wirkijaną.

Verb

werken

1. to act
2. to work
3. to practice

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Dutch: werken
• Limburgish: wèrke

Further reading

• “werken (II)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “werken (II)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page II

Middle English

Alternative forms

• werchen, warken, worchen, wurchen

Etymology

From Old English wyrċan, from Proto-West Germanic *wurkijan, from Proto-Germanic *wurkijaną.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɛrkən/, /ˈwurkən/, /ˈwɛrtʃən/, /ˈwurtʃən/

Verb

werken

1. to work

Conjugation

Descendants

• English: work
• Scots: wark, wirk
• Yola: woorkt (preterite)

References

• “werken, v.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.