different between unwork vs inwork

English

Etymology 1

un- +? work

Verb

unwork (third-person singular simple present unworks, present participle unworking, simple past and past participle unworked or (archaic) unwrought)

1. (transitive) To undo or destroy (work previously done).

Etymology 2

From un- +? work.

Noun

unwork (uncountable)

1. The lack or absence of work; worklessness.
   • 1892, John Greenleaf Wittier, The Prose of John Greenleaf Wittier:

     That comfortable philosophy which modern transcendentalism has but dimly shadowed forth — that poetic agrarianism, which gives all to each and each to all— is the real life of this city of unwork.

   • 1963, Life - Jan 1963:

     Collective bargaining has a crisis of "unwork" — that is, work which Justice Douglas once called "unwanted . . . totally useless." So much "unwork" clutters the table that collective bargaining is no longer able to do what it should: […]

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English *inwork, *inwerk, from Old English inweorc (“indoor work”), equivalent to in- +? work. Cognate with Scots inwark, inwork (“domestic work, indoor work”).

Noun

inwork (uncountable)

1. (rare) Indoor work; work done inside the home.
   • 1981, Cragg, Dawson, Great Britain. Dept. of Employment, Qualitative research among homeworkers:

     Many respondents saw their earnings as a marginal, even though often essential, contribution to the household budget and one outside the formal constraints of inwork.

Etymology 2

From in- +? work. Compare Dutch inwerken (“to affect, orient”), German einwirken (“to influence, impinge”).

Verb

inwork (third-person singular simple present inworks, present participle inworking, simple past and past participle inwrought or inworked)

1. (transitive, archaic) To work in or into.
2. (intransitive, archaic) To work or operate within.

Derived terms

• inworking
• inwrought

Anagrams

• work in, workin'