"W" Word Origins

workaholic

Origin

A playful blend of "work" and "alcoholic," coined to compare an addiction to work with an addiction to alcohol.

workaround

Origin

From work + around.

workbench

Origin

From work + bench.

workbook

Origin

From work + book.

workday

Old English

From Old English "weorcdæg," simply "work" plus "day."

worker

Origin

From "work" plus the suffix "-er," denoting someone who does the action. It gradually replaced the older word "wright."

workforce

Origin

A combination of "work" and "force," describing the collective body of workers.

workhome

Origin

From work + home.

workhorse

Origin

From Middle English werkehorse, equivalent to work + horse.

workhouse

Old English

From Old English "weorchūs," literally "work house" — a building for manufacturing or, later, for housing the poor who worked there.

working

Old English

From Old English "wyrċing," the verbal noun of "wyrċan," meaning to work.

workingman

Origin

From working + -man.

workload

Origin

A straightforward combination of "work" and "load."

workman

Old English

From Old English "weorcmann," literally "work man."

workmanship

Origin

From "workman" plus the suffix "-ship," which denotes a quality or skill.

workmate

Origin

From work + -mate.

workout

Origin

Formed from the phrasal verb "work out," meaning to exercise.

workplace

Origin

A combination of "work" and "place."

workroom

Origin

A combination of "work" and "room."

workshop

Origin

A combination of "work" and "shop."

worksite

Origin

From work + site.

worksomeness

Origin

From worksome + -ness.

workspace

Origin

A combination of "work" and "space."

workstation

Origin

From work + station.

workup

Origin

Formed from the phrasal verb "work up," meaning to develop or prepare.

workwoman

Origin

From work + -woman.

world

Old English

From Old English "weorold," originally meaning something like "age of man" — combining an old word for "man" with a word for "age."

worldie

Origin

From world + -ie, from world-class.

worldliness

Origin

From Middle English worldlynesse, equivalent to worldly + -ness. Compare West Frisian wrâldlikens (“worldliness”), German Weltlichkeit (“worldliness”), Swedish världslighet (“worldliness”).

worldly

Old English

From Old English "woruldlīċ," combining "world" with the adjective ending "-ly."

worlds

Origin

Unidentified origin.

worldview

German

A direct translation of the German word "Weltanschauung" — "world" plus "view."

worldwide

Origin

A combination of "world" and "-wide."

worm

Old English

From Old English "wyrm," which could mean both "worm" and "snake" — a distant cousin of "vermin."

wormhole

Origin · 1957

Originally just "worm" plus "hole"; the physics meaning was introduced by physicist John Archibald Wheeler in 1957.

Worms

German

From German Worms, from Old High German Wormazia, Warmazia, etc., from Latin Vormatia, from a Gaulish name attested in Latin as Borbetomagus and Bormitomagus with influence from Latin -ātus (adjective-forming suffix) and -ia (toponym-forming suffix), of uncertain origin but usually conjectured to refer to the Celtic god Borvo or a river, spring, or other waters named for him + Proto-Celtic *magos (“field, plain”). Has no relation to worm.

wormwood

Old English

From Old English "wermōd," reshaped over time to look like "worm" plus "wood," though it has nothing to do with worms. It's a relative of "vermouth."

worn

Origin

The past participle of "wear," shaped by analogy with similar verbs like "tear" (torn) and "swear" (sworn).

worrier

Origin

Simply worry plus the agent suffix "-er" — the person who does the worrying.

worrisome

Origin

From worry + "-some," a suffix meaning "tending to."

worry

Old English

From Old English wyrgan, meaning "to strangle" — the sense softened over centuries from physical choking to mental "strangling" anxiety.

worryful

Origin

From worry + -ful.

worryguts

Origin

From worry + guts.

worrying

Origin

From worry + -ing.

worrywart

Origin

From worry + wart, apparently chosen for alliteration. Presumably related to earlier worryguts. Attested 1956, but earlier examples are found in newspapers of the 1930s and 1940s.

worse

Old English

From Old English wiersa, the comparative form behind modern "bad" (which borrows its comparative and superlative from a different root, much like "good"/"better"/"best").

worsen

Middle English

From Middle English wursnen, built from worse plus the verb-forming suffix "-en" (as in "sharpen" or "widen").

worseness

Origin

From worse + -ness.