wage labor

noun

Labor that is sustained by giving the laborer a wage.

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Meanings

nounwage labor (countable and uncountable, plural wage labors)

plural wage labors · alternative wage labour

  1. UScountableuncountableLabor that is sustained by giving the laborer a wage.

    The system of wage labor is a system of slavery, and indeed of a slavery which becomes more severe in proportion as the social productive forces of labor develop, whether the worker receives better or worse payment.

    1972, Karl Marx, Critique of the Gotha Programme, 1st edition, page 24

Translations

Finnish palkkatyövoima
  • palkkatyövoimalabor sustained by wages
Russian наёмный труд
  • наёмный труд (najómnyj trud)labor sustained by wages
Cite this entry
APA

wage labor. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wage%20labor

MLA

“wage labor.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wage%20labor. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wage labor,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wage%20labor.

Source: wage labor on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.