Meanings
- uncountabledomestic household chores such as cleaning and cooking
In the preindustrial era the burden of housework fell on the shoulders of every inhabitant of the house: men, women, and children all devoted their energies and time to work in the home and on the farms, because most Americans were involved with at least some of their own food production.
2018, Kristin Lawless, Formerly known as food, →ISBN, page 228 - uncommonuncountablehomework
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From house + work. Cognate with Dutch huiswerk (“homework”).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic أَعْمَال مَنْزِل, أَعْمَال الْمَنْزِل
- أَعْمَال مَنْزِل (ʔaʕmāl manzil)domestic household chores
- أَعْمَال الْمَنْزِل (ʔaʕmāl al-manzil)domestic household chores
Bulgarian домаки́нска ра́бота
- домаки́нска ра́бота (domakínska rábota)domestic household chores
Chinese Cantonese 家務 /家务
- 家務 /家务 (gaa¹ mou⁶)domestic household chores
Chinese Mandarin 家務 /家务, 家務勞動 /家务劳动
- 家務 /家务 (jiāwù)domestic household chores
- 家務勞動 /家务劳动 (jiāwù láodòng)domestic household chores
- 家事 (jiāshì)domestic household chores
Czech domácí práce
- domácí prácedomestic household chores
Danish husholdningsarbejde
- husholdningsarbejdedomestic household chores
Dutch huishouden, huishoudelijk werk
- huishoudendomestic household chores
- huishoudelijk werkdomestic household chores
Estonian kodutöö
- kodutöödomestic household chores
Finnish kotityöt, taloustyöt
- kotityötdomestic household chores
- taloustyötdomestic household chores
French ménage
- ménagedomestic household chores
German Hausarbeit
- Hausarbeitdomestic household chores
Greek οικιακά
- οικιακά (oikiaká)domestic household chores
Hungarian házimunka
- házimunkadomestic household chores
Italian faccende
- faccendedomestic household chores
Japanese 家事
- 家事 (kaji)domestic household chores
Korean 가사, 집안일
- 가사 (gasa)domestic household chores
- 집안일 (jibanil)domestic household chores
Latvian mājasdarbs
- mājasdarbsdomestic household chores
Lithuanian buities darbai
- buities darbaidomestic household chores
Norwegian Bokmål husarbeid
- husarbeiddomestic household chores
Polish prace domowe, sprzątanie
- prace domowedomestic household chores
- sprzątaniedomestic household chores
Portuguese serviço doméstico, tarefas domésticas
- serviço domésticodomestic household chores
- tarefas domésticasdomestic household chores
Russian рабо́та по до́му, дома́шняя рабо́та
- рабо́та по до́му (rabóta po dómu)domestic household chores
- дома́шняя рабо́та (domášnjaja rabóta)domestic household chores
- убо́рка (ubórka)domestic household chores
Scottish Gaelic obair-taighe
- obair-taighedomestic household chores
Slovak domáca práca
- domáca prácadomestic household chores
Spanish tareas domésticas, quehaceres
- tareas domésticasdomestic household chores
- quehaceresdomestic household chores
- faenasdomestic household chores
Swedish hushållsarbete
- hushållsarbetedomestic household chores
Tagalog gawaing-bahay
- gawaing-bahaydomestic household chores
Thai งานบ้าน
- งานบ้าน (ngaan-bâan)domestic household chores
Ukrainian робо́та по до́му, прибира́ння
- робо́та по до́му (robóta po dómu)domestic household chores
- прибира́ння (prybyránnja)domestic household chores
Vietnamese việc nhà
- việc nhàdomestic household chores
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
housework. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/housework
“housework.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/housework. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “housework,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/housework.
Source: housework on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.