homework

home·work
H4O1M3E1W4O1R1K5
UK/ˈhəʊmˌwɜːk/US/ˈhoʊmˌwɜɹk/

noun

Any work that is done at home.

“You must do your homework before you can watch television.”

CommonScrabble 20

Meanings

nounhomework (usually uncountable, plural homeworks)

plural homeworks

  1. archaicliterallyuncountableusuallyAny work that is done at home.

    Hatch perceived homework to be one tool—along with various workfare schemes and private sector training programs—that would take women off welfare and make poor women "independent."

    1989, Eileen Boris, Cynthia R. Daniels, Homework: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Paid Labor at Home, University of Illinois Press, →ISBN, page 241

    Synonyms: housework

  2. uncountableusuallyExercises assigned by a teacher to a student to be completed out of class.

    You must do your homework before you can watch television.

    4 more examples

    They will also be doing a few preparation homeworks for the practical CA during this time so it won't all be Unit1 focussed.

    2011 September 16, Pete Bell, “Increasing engagement in homework”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC

    Even 15-year-olds do no more than 30 minutes' homework a night.

    2013 July 1, Peter Wilby, “Finland's education ambassador spreads the word”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 Oct 2022

    And I'm sympathetic to teachers who feel that they have enough to worry about, without adding A.I.-generated homework to the mix.

    2023 January 12, Kevin Roose, “Don't Ban ChatGPT in Schools. Teach With It.”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 Jan 2023

    Under the proposals, an assurance is given that GBR (in the words of the plan) will not be marking its own homework.

    2024 May 15, 'Industry Insider', “Labour's plan for the railway”, in RAIL, number 1009, page 68
  3. broadlyuncountableusuallyPreliminary or preparatory work.

    The speaker had certainly done his homework before delivering the lecture.

    4 more examples

    Since the whole world is watching this launch, they probably should've done some homework on their talking points.

    2012 April 10, John Hudson, “North Korea Has a Clumsy Way of Soothing Concerns About Its Rocket Launch”, in James Bennet, editor, The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 22 Jan 2022

    Four years after her first sexual health book came out, Dr. Lori Brotto is giving her readers a little bit of homework for the bedroom.

    2017 May 9, “Mindful sex is better sex, says B.C. researcher promoting new workbook”, in CBC News, archived from the original on 22 Nov 2022

    I didn't even know who he was until I did my homework and realised he was a premier footballer for Bayern.

    2022 July 18, Donald Mcrae, quoting Michael Yormark, “Roc Nation's Michael Yormark on Romelu Lukaku: 'You have to play to his strengths... I don't think that happened'”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 Dec 2022

    Nigeria had done their homework and were well organised. Halimatu Ayinde was exceptional in her marking of James, who had scored twice and provided three assists as she ran the show against China.

    2023 August 7, Suzanne Wrack, “England beat Nigeria on penalties to reach Women’s World Cup quarter-finals”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC
  4. euphemisticslanguncountableusuallySexual intercourse.

    My wife and I want a kid, and we do plenty of homework, but goddamn it, Dutch, I just can't connect.

    1933, James T. Farrell, Gas-House McGinty, page 186

    Synonyms: sex, sex act, sexual act

  5. uncountableusuallyBDSMTasks assigned by a dominant for a submissive to perform when they are physically away from their dominant or otherwise free.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounAny work that is done at home.

Similar

nounSexual intercourse.

More synonyms by meaning

nounwork, such as schoolwork or piecework, that is done at home

Similar
school assignmentschoolwork
Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱey-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ḱóymos
  3. Proto-Indo-European*teḱ-
  4. Proto-Indo-European*tḱéytibf.
  5. Proto-Indo-European*tḱey-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*tḱóymos
  7. Proto-Germanic*haimaz
  8. Proto-West Germanic*haim
  9. Old Englishhām
  10. Middle Englishhom
  11. Englishhome
  12. Proto-Indo-European*werǵ-
  13. Proto-Indo-European*wérǵom
  14. Proto-Germanic*werką
  15. Proto-West Germanic*werk
  16. Old Englishweorc
  17. Middle Englishwerk
  18. Englishwork
  19. Englishhomework

From home + work.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans huiswerk, huiswerk
  • huiswerkschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • huiswerkpreliminary or preparatory work
Arabic وَاجِب, وَاجِب مَنْزِلِيّ
  • وَاجِب (wājib)schoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • وَاجِب مَنْزِلِيّ (wājib manziliyy)schoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Basque eskolako lan
  • eskolako lanschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Bulgarian дома́шна ра́бота
  • дома́шна ра́бота (domášna rábota)schoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Catalan deures
  • deuresschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Chinese Cantonese 功課 /功课
  • 功課 /功课 (gung¹ fo³)schoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Chinese Mandarin 作業 /作业, 家庭作業 /家庭作业
  • 作業 /作业 (zuòyè)schoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • 家庭作業 /家庭作业 (jiātíng zuòyè)schoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • 功課 /功课 (gōngkè)schoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • 研究 (yánjiū)preliminary or preparatory work
  • 準備工作 /准备工作 (zhǔnbèi gōngzuò)preliminary or preparatory work
Czech domácí úkol, domácí úkoly
  • domácí úkolschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • domácí úkolyschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Danish lektier, hjemmearbejde
  • lektierschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • hjemmearbejdeschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Dutch huiswerk, huistaak
  • huiswerkschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • huistaakschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • huiswerkpreliminary or preparatory work
Esperanto hejmtasko, hejmtasko
  • hejmtaskoschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • hejmtaskopreliminary or preparatory work
Finnish läksyt, kotitehtävät
  • läksytschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • kotitehtävätschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • kotiläksytpreliminary or preparatory work
  • valmistautuminenpreliminary or preparatory work
French devoirs
  • devoirsschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
German Hausaufgabe, Hausaufgaben
  • Hausaufgabeschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • Hausaufgabenpreliminary or preparatory work
Greek εργασία για το σπίτι
  • εργασία για το σπίτι (ergasía gia to spíti)schoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Hebrew עבודת בית, שיעורי בית
  • עבודת ביתschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • שיעורי ביתschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • שִׁעוּרֵי בַּיִת (shi'uréi báyit)schoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Hindi गृहकार्य, होमवर्क
  • गृहकार्य (gŕhkārya)schoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • होमवर्क (homvark)schoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Hungarian házi feladat
  • házi feladatschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Icelandic heimavinna
  • heimavinnaschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Indonesian pekerjaan rumah
  • pekerjaan rumahschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Irish obair bhaile
  • obair bhaileschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Italian compito, compiti
  • compitoschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • compitischoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Japanese 宿題, 課題
  • 宿題 (shukudai)schoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • 課題 (kadai)schoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Korean 숙제
  • 숙제 (sukje)schoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Latin pensum, pensum
  • pensumschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • pensumpreliminary or preparatory work
Lithuanian namų darbai
  • namų darbaischoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Malay kerja rumah
  • kerja rumahschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Māori mahi kāinga, mahi kāinga
  • mahi kāingaschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • mahi kāingapreliminary or preparatory work
Norwegian Bokmål lekse, hjemmelekse
  • lekseschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • hjemmelekseschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Polish zadanie domowe, praca domowa
  • zadanie domoweschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • praca domowaschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Portuguese lição de casa, dever de casa
  • lição de casaschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • dever de casaschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • tarefa de casaschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • trabalho para casaschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • tema de casaschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Romanian temă, temă
  • temăschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • temăpreliminary or preparatory work
Russian дома́шнее зада́ние, дома́шняя рабо́та
  • дома́шнее зада́ние (domášneje zadánije)schoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • дома́шняя рабо́та (domášnjaja rabóta)schoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • дома́шка (domáška)schoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • подготови́тельная рабо́та (podgotovítelʹnaja rabóta)preliminary or preparatory work
  • иссле́дование (isslédovanije)preliminary or preparatory work
Scottish Gaelic obair-dachaigh
  • obair-dachaighschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Slovak domáca úloha
  • domáca úlohaschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Spanish deberes, tarea
  • deberesschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • tareaschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • tareapreliminary or preparatory work
Swedish läxa, hemläxa
  • läxaschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • hemläxaschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • hemuppgiftschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • hemläxapreliminary or preparatory work
Tagalog takdang-aralin, homwork
  • takdang-aralinschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • homworkschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Tamil வீட்டுப்பாடம்
  • வீட்டுப்பாடம் (vīṭṭuppāṭam)schoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Thai การบ้าน
  • การบ้าน (gaan-bâan)schoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Turkish ödev, ev ödevi
  • ödevschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • ev ödevischoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Ukrainian дома́шнє завда́ння, дома́шня робо́та
  • дома́шнє завда́ння (domášnje zavdánnja)schoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • дома́шня робо́та (domášnja robóta)schoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Urdu سَبَق, ہوم وَرْک
  • سَبَق (sabaq)schoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • ہوم وَرْک (hom vark)schoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Vietnamese bài tập, bài tập về nhà
  • bài tậpschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
  • bài tập về nhàschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Welsh gwaith cartref
  • gwaith cartrefschoolwork assigned to be done out of class
Yiddish היימאַרבעט
  • היימאַרבעט (heymarbet)schoolwork assigned to be done out of class

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

homework. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/homework

MLA

“homework.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/homework. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “homework,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/homework.

Source: homework on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.