Etymology

workaday

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Today it means: Suitable for everyday use. Full definition →

Middle English werkedei ← Old Norse virkr dagr
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The story

  1. Old Norse · derived fromvirkr dagr“working day”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromwerkedei
  3. English todayworkaday

Middle English werkedei, from Old Norse virkr dagr (“working day”). Cognate to later workday; see work and day. Used in adjective sense from 16th century. By surface analysis, work + -a- + day. First attested in c. 1200.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.