different between twerk vs werk

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /tw??k/, [tw??k]
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /tw??k/, [tw???k]
• Rhymes: -??(?)k

Etymology 1

Blend of twerp +? jerk.

Noun

twerk (plural twerks)

1. (slang, dated, US) A puny or insignificant person, generally male; a twerp.
   • 1932, Forum and Century vol. 87 [1]:

     "But even then the poor twerk's whiskers and little eyes looked kind of wistful as if the clothes had got him and was taking him somewhere..."

   • 2003, Bernard Kamoroff, Small Time Operator [2], ?ISBN, page 19,

     You don't need those twerks who walk in off the street.

Usage notes

Found primarily in the 1930s-era works of Walter Dumaux Edmonds.

Etymology 2

Blend of twitch +? jerk.

Noun

twerk (plural twerks)

1. A fitful movement similar to a twitch or jerk.
   • 1898, William Brigham, "Director's Report" in Occasional Papers of the Bernice Pauahi Museum vol. 1 no. 1, page 42:

     "Not so the Freycineti, who looked me over critically, elevated his head crest, and giving his tail an odd little twerk, proceeded to hop deliberately up the limb like a sap-sucker..."
2. A dance involving sexual movements of the hips and buttocks

Verb

twerk (third-person singular simple present twerks, present participle twerking, simple past and past participle twerked)

1. To twitch or jerk.
   • 1985, Criena Rohan, Down by the Docks, page 151

     […] in the language of the unsophisticated Port Melbourne suburbanite a bed was still something primarily intended for love-making – all the eyebrow-raising and moustache-twerking in Jo'burg couldn't alter that.

   • 2005, Florence Hall Abssi, The Call, page 613

     "He twerked an eyebrow at his wife."

2. To move the body in a sexually suggestive twisting or gyrating fashion.
   • 2005, Euftis Emery, Off the Chain, ?ISBN, page 73,

     Gaea then stood up over me and turned so that her butt was facing me. She then had the nerve to start twerking.

   • 2006, Lawrence Christopher, Ghettoway Weekend, ?ISBN, page 96,

     "Shortie really knows how to twerk it don't she?" Marcus boasted, while still recording.

   • 2006, Justin Timberlake feat. Timbaland, "SexyBack", FutureSex/LoveSounds

     Let me see what ya twerkin with

3. To dance in a sexually suggestive manner, often involving rapid movement.
   • 2013, Nichole Smith, ABC News, High School Students Suspended for Twerking

     Twerking, as it is known in the hip-hop community, is a hard-hitting, rump-shaking dance move that celebrities including Beyonce and Miley Cyrus have been known to bust out, but it has also gotten a group of San Diego high school students suspended.

Translations

Usage notes

In “sexually suggestive movements, especially dance”, particularly popularized since c. 2000 by US hip-hop.

Derived terms

• twerker

Etymology 3

Onomatopoeia, possibly coined by Roger Tory Peterson.

Noun

twerk (plural twerks)

1. An abrupt call, such as that made by the California quail.

English

Noun

werk (plural werks)

1. Obsolete form of work.

Anagrams

• w**ker

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???rk/

Etymology 1

From Dutch werk, from Old Dutch *werk, from Proto-Germanic *werk?, from Proto-Indo-European *wér?om.

Noun

werk (plural werke, diminutive werkie)

1. work

Derived terms

• werkboek

Etymology 2

From Dutch werken, from Middle Dutch werken, from Old Dutch wirken, wirkon (“to work, make”), from Proto-Germanic *wirkijan? (“to work, make”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer?-, *wre?- (“to work, act”).

Verb

werk (present werk, present participle werkende, past participle gewerk)

1. work

Related terms

• werker

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??rk/
• Hyphenation: werk
• Rhymes: -?rk

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch werc, from Old Dutch *werk, from Proto-Germanic *werk?, from Proto-Indo-European *wér?om.

Noun

werk n (plural werken, diminutive werkje n)

1. A task, job, chore.

   Het werk dat moest gebeuren, is voltooid. — The thing that must be done is finished.

2. A profession, job, employment, line of work.

   Het werk van Hans is buschauffeur. — The profession of Hans is bus driver.

3. A workplace

   Hans kwam vandaag te laat aan op het werk. — Today Hans arrived to the workplace too late.

4. A product, creation; production, output, result of work.

   Het werk van Magritte zal op de veiling verkocht worden. — The work of Magritte will be sold by auction.

5. (dialectal) tow, oakum

   Synonym: hede

Synonyms

• arbeid

Derived terms

- output, product(ion)

Related terms

• werken

Descendants

• Afrikaans: werk

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

werk

1. first-person singular present indicative of werken
2. imperative of werken

Middle English

Alternative forms

• wirk, work

Etymology

From Old English weorc. See English work for more.

Noun

werk (plural werks)

1. work
2. sexual intercourse
   • 1422, James Yonge (translator), Secretum Secretorum:

References

• “werk, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *werk?, whence also Old High German werc, Old Norse verk.

Noun

werk n

1. work

Declension

Scots

Noun

werk (plural werkis)

1. Obsolete form of wirk (“work”).

References

• “wirk” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.