different between homespun vs workaday

English

Etymology

From home +? spun.

Adjective

homespun (not comparable)

1. (of yarn) Spun in the home.
2. (of fabric) Woven in the home.
3. (of clothing, etc.) Made from homespun fabric.
   • 1855–1859, Washington Irving, The Life of George Washington

     homespun country garbs
4. (by extension) Plain and homely; unsophisticated and unpretentious.

   Synonyms: down-home, cracker-barrel

   • our homespun English proverb

   • 1707, Joseph Addison, Prologue to Phaedra and Hippolitus (spoken by Mr. Wilkes, written by Edmund Smith)

     our homespun authors must forsake the field

   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:homespun.

Translations

Noun

homespun (countable and uncountable, plural homespuns)

1. Fabric made from homespun yarn. Also, machine made fabrics (usually cottons) similar to homespun fabrics in that solids, plaids, or stripes are created by weaving dyed threads (rather than printing), so that both sides of the fabric look the same.
   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:homespun.
2. (obsolete) An unpolished, rustic person.
   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:homespun.

See also

• down-home
• homegrown
• roughspun

English

Alternative forms

• workyday (obsolete)

Etymology

Circa 1200, Middle English werkedei, from Old Norse virkr dagr (“working day”). Cognate to later workday; see work and day. Used in adjective sense from 16th century. Note that the surface analysis work +? a +? day is cognate, but not the correct etymology – a much older formation.

Adjective

workaday (comparative more workaday, superlative most workaday)

1. Suitable for everyday use.
2. Mundane or commonplace.

Quotations

• 1916, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce, Macmillan Press Ltd, paperback, p. 102:

  A retreat, my dear boys, signifies a withdrawal for a while from the cares of our life, the cares of this workaday world, in order to examine the state of our conscience, to reflect on the mysteries of holy religion and to understand better why we are here in this world."

Related terms

• workday

Translations

References