worker

W4O1R1K5E1R1
UK/ˈwɜː.kə/US/ˈwɝ.kɚ/

noun

One who works: a person who performs labor for a living; traditionally, especially, manual labor.

“Near-synonym: employee”

Meanings

nounworker (plural workers)

plural workers

  1. One who works: a person who performs labor for a living; traditionally, especially, manual labor.

    Near-synonym: employee

    5 more examples

    Fret not thy ſelfe becauſe of euill doers, neither bee thou enuious againſt the workers of iniquitie.

    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 37:1

    Writer Ta Chen, in a statistical study of industrial labor in China in 1933, recorded that 66.6 percent of the total number of workers in the four main industrial regions of Kwangtung were women. In Shun-te, 81.2 percent of the labor force were women.

    1986, Janice G. Raymond, A Passion for Friends: Toward a Philosophy of Female Affection, Boston: Beacon Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 124

    Manganism has been known about since the 19th century, when miners exposed to ores containing manganese […] began to totter, slur their speech and behave like someone inebriated. The poisoning was irreversible, and soon ended in psychosis and death. Nowadays workers are exposed to far lower doses and manganism is rare.

    2014 April 21, “Subtle effects”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8884, archived from the original on 07 Jul 2014

    Although the radiation levels identified are high, a threat to human health is very unlikely because apart from workers at the site, no-one goes there.

    2017 February 2, Jeff Farrell, “Fukushima nuclear disaster: Lethal levels of radiation detected in leak seven years after plant meltdown in Japan”, in The Independent, London, archived from the original on 10 Apr 2019

    That would allow employers to keep some tip money for themselves, as long as each worker made at least the full federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.

    2018 March 24, Lydia DePillis, “Few noticed, but Congress just banned restaurants from skimming tips”, in CNN, archived from the original on 09 Dec 2024

    Synonyms: employee

    1. rareA female ant, bee, termite or wasp.
  2. computingA thread performing one instance of a particular task within a program.

    This FTP client spawns a separate worker for each file to be uploaded.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounOne who works: a person who performs labor for a living; traditionally, especially, manual labor.

Similar
Broader

More synonyms by meaning

nouna person who works at a specific occupation

Opposite

nouna member of the working class (not necessarily employed)

nouna person who acts and gets things done

Similar
Broader
causal agentcausecausal agency

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*werǵ-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*wr̥ǵyéti
  3. Proto-Germanic*wurkijaną
  4. Proto-West Germanic*wurkijan
  5. Proto-Indo-European*werǵ-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*wérǵom
  7. Proto-Germanic*werką
  8. Proto-Germanic*wirkijaną
  9. Proto-West Germanic*wirkijan
  10. Old Englishwyrċan
  11. Middle Englishworchen
  12. Middle Englishwerkere, worchere
  13. Englishworker

Inherited from Middle English worchere, werkere, equivalent to work + -er. Displaced the older term wright, from Old English wyrhta.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans werker
  • werkerperson who performs labor
Ancient Greek ἐργάτης, ἐργάτις
  • ἐργάτης (ergátēs)person who performs labor
  • ἐργάτις (ergátis)person who performs labor
Arabic عَامِل, عَامِلَة
  • عَامِل (ʕāmil)person who performs labor
  • عَامِلَة (ʕāmila)person who performs labor
  • شَغِّيل (šaḡḡīl)person who performs labor
  • شَغِّيلَة (šaḡḡīla)person who performs labor
Basque langile
  • langileperson who performs labor
Bengali কর্মী
  • কর্মী (kormi)person who performs labor
Bulgarian рабо́тник, рабо́тничка
  • рабо́тник (rabótnik)person who performs labor
  • рабо́тничка (rabótnička)person who performs labor
Catalan treballador, treballadora
  • treballadorperson who performs labor
  • treballadoraperson who performs labor
  • obrerperson who performs labor
Chinese Mandarin 工人, 工作者
  • 工人 (gōngrén)person who performs labor
  • 工作者 (gōngzuòzhě)person who performs labor
  • 勞動者 /劳动者 (láodòngzhě)person who performs labor
  • 劳工 (láogōng)person who performs labor
Czech dělník, dělnice
  • dělníkperson who performs labor
  • dělniceperson who performs labor
  • dělniceinsect
Danish arbejder
  • arbejderperson who performs labor
Dutch arbeider, arbeidster
  • arbeiderperson who performs labor
  • arbeidsterperson who performs labor
  • arbeidskrachtperson who performs labor
Esperanto laboristo, laboristino
  • laboristoperson who performs labor
  • laboristinoperson who performs labor
  • laborantoperson who performs labor
  • laborantinoperson who performs labor
  • proletoperson who performs labor
  • proletinoperson who performs labor
  • proletarioperson who performs labor
  • proletariinoperson who performs labor
Estonian töötaja
  • töötajaperson who performs labor
Finnish työläinen, työntekijä
  • työläinenperson who performs labor
  • työntekijäperson who performs labor
  • työläineninsect
French travailleur, travailleuse
  • travailleurperson who performs labor
  • travailleuseperson who performs labor
  • ouvrierperson who performs labor
  • ouvrièreperson who performs labor
  • ouvrierinsect
  • ouvrièreinsect
German Arbeiter, Arbeiterin
  • Arbeiterperson who performs labor
  • Arbeiterinperson who performs labor
  • Angestellterperson who performs labor
  • Angestellteperson who performs labor
  • Hacklerperson who performs labor
  • Hacklerinperson who performs labor
  • Arbeitnehmerperson who performs labor
  • Arbeitnehmerinperson who performs labor
  • Arbeiterininsect
  • Arbeitsameiseinsect
  • Arbeitsbieneinsect
  • Arbeitstermite (termite)insect
Greek εργάτης, εργάτρια
  • εργάτης (ergátis)person who performs labor
  • εργάτρια (ergátria)person who performs labor
Hebrew עוֹבֵד, עובדת
  • עוֹבֵד (oved)person who performs labor
  • עובדת (ovedet)person who performs labor
  • פּוֹעֵל (po'él)person who performs labor
  • פּוֹעֶלֶת (pó'élet)person who performs labor
Hindi मज़दूर, श्रमिक
  • मज़दूर (mazdūr)person who performs labor
  • श्रमिक (śramik)person who performs labor
  • कामगार (kāmgār)person who performs labor
Hungarian munkás, dolgozó
  • munkásperson who performs labor
  • dolgozóinsect
Icelandic starfsmaður, verkamaður
  • starfsmaðurperson who performs labor
  • verkamaðurperson who performs labor
Indonesian buruh, pekerja
  • buruhperson who performs labor
  • pekerjainsect
Irish oibrí
  • oibríperson who performs labor
Italian lavoratore, operaio
  • lavoratoreperson who performs labor
  • operaioperson who performs labor
  • lavoranteperson who performs labor
Japanese 労働者, 勤労者
  • 労働者 (rōdōsha)person who performs labor
  • 勤労者 (kinrōsha)person who performs labor
  • 働く人 (hataraku hito)person who performs labor
Korean 노동자, 로동자
  • 노동자 (nodongja)person who performs labor
  • 로동자 (rodongja)person who performs labor
  • 근로자 (geulloja)person who performs labor
Latin operārius
  • operāriusperson who performs labor
Latvian strādnieks, strādniece
  • strādnieksperson who performs labor
  • strādnieceperson who performs labor
Lithuanian darbininkas, darbininkė
  • darbininkasperson who performs labor
  • darbininkėperson who performs labor
Malay pekerja
  • pekerjaperson who performs labor
Māori kaimahi
  • kaimahiperson who performs labor
Norwegian Bokmål arbeider, arbeidsmann
  • arbeiderperson who performs labor
  • arbeidsmannperson who performs labor
Polish robotnik, robotnica
  • robotnikperson who performs labor
  • robotnicaperson who performs labor
  • robotnicainsect
Portuguese trabalhador, operário
  • trabalhadorperson who performs labor
  • operárioinsect
Romanian lucrător, lucrătoare
  • lucrătorperson who performs labor
  • lucrătoareperson who performs labor
  • muncitorperson who performs labor
  • muncitoareperson who performs labor
  • angajatperson who performs labor
  • angajatăperson who performs labor
  • albină lucrătoareinsect
Russian рабо́тник, рабо́тница
  • рабо́тник (rabótnik)person who performs labor
  • рабо́тница (rabótnica)person who performs labor
  • рабо́чий (rabóčij)person who performs labor
  • рабо́чая (rabóčaja)person who performs labor
  • трудя́щийся (trudjáščijsja)person who performs labor
  • трудя́щаяся (trudjáščajasja)person who performs labor
  • тру́женик (trúženik)person who performs labor
  • тру́женица (trúženica)person who performs labor
  • рабо́чий (rabóčij)insect
  • рабо́чая пчела́ (rabóčaja pčelá)insect
  • рабо́чая оса́ (rabóčaja osá)insect
Scottish Gaelic obraiche, neach-obrach
  • obraicheperson who performs labor
  • neach-obrachperson who performs labor
Slovak robotník, robotníčka
  • robotníkperson who performs labor
  • robotníčkaperson who performs labor
Spanish trabajador, obrero
  • trabajadorperson who performs labor
  • obreroperson who performs labor
  • obrerainsect
Swahili mfanyakazi, mfanyaji
  • mfanyakaziperson who performs labor
  • mfanyajiperson who performs labor
Swedish arbetare
  • arbetareperson who performs labor
Tagalog manggagawa, trabahador
  • manggagawaperson who performs labor
  • trabahadorperson who performs labor
Thai คนงาน, กรรมกร
  • คนงาน (kon-ngaan)person who performs labor
  • กรรมกร (gam-má-gɔɔn)person who performs labor
  • พนักงาน (pá-nák-ngaan)person who performs labor
  • ลูกจ้าง (lûuk-jâang)person who performs labor
  • คนทำงาน (kon-tam-ngaan)person who performs labor
  • ผู้ปฏิบัติงาน (pûu-bpà-dtì-bàt-ngaan)person who performs labor
  • ผู้ใช้แรงงาน (pûu-chái-rɛɛng-ngaan)person who performs labor
Turkish işçi, emekçi
  • işçiperson who performs labor
  • emekçiperson who performs labor
  • ameleperson who performs labor
  • faaleperson who performs labor
Ukrainian робітни́к, робітни́ця
  • робітни́к (robitnýk)person who performs labor
  • робітни́ця (robitnýcja)person who performs labor
  • працівни́к (pracivnýk)person who performs labor
  • працівни́ця (pracivnýcja)person who performs labor
  • трудя́щий (trudjáščyj)person who performs labor
  • трудя́ща (trudjášča)person who performs labor
Urdu مَزدُور, کامْگار
  • مَزدُور (mazdūr)person who performs labor
  • کامْگار (kāmgār)person who performs labor
Vietnamese công nhân, thợ
  • công nhânperson who performs labor
  • thợinsect
Yiddish אַרבעטער, אַרבעטערין
  • אַרבעטער (arbeter)person who performs labor
  • אַרבעטערין (arbeterin)person who performs labor

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with worker

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

“worker.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/worker. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “worker,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/worker.

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