workman

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”).

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈwɝkmən/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwɜːkmən/
• Hyphenation: work‧man

• Audio (US)

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workman (plural workmen)

1. A man who labours for wages.
   • 2021 December 29, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques: Chester (1848)”, in RAIL, number 947, page 58:

     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.

2. An artisan or craftsman.

• a bad workman always blames his tools
• bye-workman
• workmanly

• worker
• workwoman

• “workman”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.