different between work vs item
work
English
Alternative forms
- werk, werke, worke (obsolete)
- wuk (nonstandard, AAVE)
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /w??k/
- (Broad Geordie) IPA(key): [w??k]
- (General American) IPA(key): /w?k/, [w?k]
- (NYC) IPA(key): /w??k/
- Rhymes: -??(?)k
Etymology 1
From Middle English work, werk, from Old English worc, weorc, ?eweorc, from Proto-Germanic *werk? (“work”), from Proto-Indo-European *wér?om; akin to Scots wark, Saterland Frisian Wierk, West Frisian wurk, Dutch werk, German Werk, German Low German Wark, Danish værk, Norwegian Bokmål verk, Norwegian Nynorsk verk, Swedish verk and yrke, Icelandic verk, Gothic ???????????????????????????????? (gawaurki), Ancient Greek ????? (érgon, “work”) (from ?????? (wérgon)), Avestan ????????????????????? (v?r?z, “to work, to perform”), Armenian ???? (gorc, “work”), Albanian argëtoj (“entertain, reward, please”). English cognates include bulwark, boulevard, energy, erg, georgic, liturgy, metallurgy, organ, surgeon, wright. Doublet of ergon.
Noun
work (countable and uncountable, plural works)
- (heading, uncountable) Employment.
- Labour, occupation, job.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:occupation
- The place where one is employed.
- (by extension) One's employer.
- (dated) A factory; a works.
- 1917, Platers' Guide (page 246)
- In trials of a Martin furnace in a steel work at Remscheiden, Germany, a lining of zirconia was found in good condition after […]
- 1917, Platers' Guide (page 246)
- Labour, occupation, job.
- (heading, uncountable) Effort.
- Effort expended on a particular task.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:work
- Sustained human effort to overcome obstacles and achieve a result.
- The Bat—they called him the Bat. Like a bat he chose the night hours for his work of rapine; like a bat he struck and vanished, pouncingly, noiselessly; like a bat he never showed himself to the face of the day.
- Something on which effort is expended.
- (physics) A measure of energy expended in moving an object; most commonly, force times distance. No work is done if the object does not move.
- (physics, more generally) A measure of energy that is usefully extracted from a process.
- Effort expended on a particular task.
- (heading) Product; the result of effort.
- (uncountable, often in combination) The result of a particular manner of production.
- (uncountable, often in combination) Something produced using the specified material or tool.
- (countable) A literary, artistic, or intellectual production.
- “[…] We are engaged in a great work, a treatise on our river fortifications, perhaps? But since when did army officers afford the luxury of amanuenses in this simple republic? […] ”
- (countable) A fortification.
- (uncountable, often in combination) The result of a particular manner of production.
- (uncountable, slang, professional wrestling) The staging of events to appear as real.
- (mining) Ore before it is dressed.
- (slang, plural only) The equipment needed to inject a drug (syringes, needles, swabs etc.)
Derived terms
Descendants
- Pijin: waka
Translations
See also
- (product (combining form)): -ing
Etymology 2
From Middle English werken and worchen, from Old English wyr?an and wircan (Mercian), from Proto-Germanic *wurkijan? (“to work”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer?- (“to work”). Cognate with Old Frisian werka, wirka, Old Saxon wirkian, Low German warken, Dutch werken, Old High German wurken (German wirken, werken and werkeln), Old Norse yrkja and orka, (Swedish yrka and orka), Gothic ???????????????????????????????? (waurkjan).
Verb
work (third-person singular simple present works, present participle working, simple past and past participle worked or (rare/archaic) wrought)
- (intransitive) To do a specific task by employing physical or mental powers.
- Followed by in (or at, etc.) Said of one's workplace (building), or one's department, or one's trade (sphere of business).
- Followed by as. Said of one's job title
- Followed by for. Said of a company or individual who employs.
- Followed by with. General use, said of either fellow employees or instruments or clients.
- Followed by in (or at, etc.) Said of one's workplace (building), or one's department, or one's trade (sphere of business).
- (transitive) To effect by gradual degrees.
- 1712, Joseph Addison, Cato, a Tragedy
- So the pure, limpid stream, when foul with stains / Of rushing torrents and descending rains, / Works itself clear, and as it runs, refines, / Till by degrees the floating mirror shines.
- 1712, Joseph Addison, Cato, a Tragedy
- (transitive) To embroider with thread.
- (transitive) To set into action.
- (transitive) To cause to ferment.
- (intransitive) To ferment.
- 1612, Francis Bacon, Essay on Natural History
- the working of beer when the barm is put in
- 1612, Francis Bacon, Essay on Natural History
- (transitive) To exhaust, by working.
- 1774, Edward Long, The History of Jamaica. Or, General Survey of the Antient and Modern State of that Island, volume 2, chapter 11, 240:
- They were told of a ?ilver mine, that had been worked by the Spaniards, ?omewhere in the Health?hire Hills, in St. Catharine; but they were not able to di?cover it.
- 1774, Edward Long, The History of Jamaica. Or, General Survey of the Antient and Modern State of that Island, volume 2, chapter 11, 240:
- (transitive) To shape, form, or improve a material.
- (transitive) To operate in a certain place, area, or speciality.
- (transitive) To operate in or through; as, to work the phones.
- (transitive) To provoke or excite; to influence.
- (transitive) To use or manipulate to one’s advantage.
- (transitive) To cause to happen or to occur as a consequence.
- (transitive) To cause to work.
- (intransitive) To function correctly; to act as intended; to achieve the goal designed for.
- (intransitive, figuratively) To influence.
- (intransitive) To effect by gradual degrees; as, to work into the earth.
- (intransitive) To move in an agitated manner.
- A ship works in a heavy sea.
- 1705, Joseph Addison, Remarks on several parts of Italy, &c., in the years 1701, 1702, 1703
- confused with working sands and rolling waves
- (intransitive) To behave in a certain way when handled
- (ditransitive, poetic) To cause (someone) to feel (something); to do unto somebody (something, whether good or bad).
- 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night:
- And indeed I blamed myself and sore repented me of having taken compassion on him and continued in this condition, suffering fatigue not to be described, till I said to myself, "I wrought him a weal and he requited me with my ill; by Allah, never more will I do any man a service so long as I live!"
- 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night:
- (obsolete, intransitive) To hurt; to ache.
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XXI:
- ‘I wolde hit were so,’ seyde the Kynge, ‘but I may nat stonde, my hede worchys so—’
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XXI:
Conjugation
Derived terms
Translations
Further reading
- "work" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 334.
References
work From the web:
- what works clearinghouse
- what works
- what work week is it
- what works like viagra
- what workouts burn the most fat
- what works clearinghouse reading
- what works cities
- what works as a stylus
item
English
Etymology
From Middle English item, from Latin item (“also; in the same manner”). The present English meaning derives from a usage in lists, where the first entry would begin in primis (“firstly”) or imprimis, and the other entries with item (“also, moreover”). Later, people less familiar with Latin, seeing such lists, took the word "item" as meaning "a member of a list".
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?a?t?m/
- (US) IPA(key): [?a????m], [?a???m?]
- Hyphenation: item
Noun
item (plural items)
- A distinct physical object.
- (by extension, video games) An object that can be picked up for later use.
- A line of text having a legal or other meaning; a separate particular in an account.
- (psychometrics) A question on a test, which may include its answers.
- A matter for discussion in an agenda.
- (informal) Two people who are having a relationship with each other.
- 2010, Justin Bieber featuring Ludacris, Baby
- Are we an item? Girl, quit playin' / "We're just friends," what are you sayin'?
- 2010, Justin Bieber featuring Ludacris, Baby
- A short article in a newspaper.
- (obsolete) A hint; an innuendo.
- A secret item was given to some of the bishops […] to absent themselves.
Synonyms
- (object): article, object, thing
- (line of text having a legal or semantic meaning):
- (matter for discussion): subject, topic
- (two people who are having a relationship with each other): couple
- (psychometrics): test/assessment question
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Translations
Verb
item (third-person singular simple present items, present participle iteming, simple past and past participle itemed)
- (transitive) To make a note of.
Related terms
- itemize
Adverb
item (not comparable)
- likewise
Anagrams
- -time, METI, emit, it me, mite, time
Czech
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [??t?m]
Adverb
item
- (archaic) as well
- Synonyms: také, rovn?ž, dále, krom? toho
Further reading
- item in P?íru?ní slovník jazyka ?eského, 1935–1957
- item in Slovník spisovného jazyka ?eského, 1960–1971, 1989
French
Etymology
Latin.
Adverb
item
- same; in the same way
Further reading
- “item” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Italian
Etymology 1
From Latin item.
Adverb
item
- (law) in the same way.
Etymology 2
From English item, from Latin item.
Noun
item m (invariable)
- (computer science) A single programmed unit.
- (linguistics) An element of a grammatical or lexical set.
Latin
Etymology
Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *éy and *só. Compare ita and itidem.
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /?i.tem/, [??t????]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /?i.tem/, [?i?t??m]
Adverb
item (not comparable)
- just like (in a comparison)
Related terms
References
- item in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- item in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
- item in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
Middle English
Etymology
From Latin item.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?i?t?m/
Adverb
item
- also, and this.
References
- “item, adv. & n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-25.
Noun
item
- the same; identical.
Descendants
- English: item
- Scots: eetem
References
- “item, adv. & n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-25.
Middle French
Etymology
Latin.
Adverb
item
- same; in the same way
Old French
Etymology
Latin.
Adverb
item
- same; in the same way
Portuguese
Etymology
From Latin item (“also; in the same manner”).
Pronunciation
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /?i.t?m/, /?i.t??j?/
- Hyphenation: i?tem
Noun
item m (plural itens)
- item
- A matter for discussion in an agenda or elsewhere.
- A line of text with some meaning.
item From the web:
- what items does goodwill accept
- what items cannot be returned to walmart
- what itemized deductions are allowed in 2020
- what items can be recycled
- what items are recyclable
- what items are fsa eligible
- what item level for mythic dungeons
- what items are exempt from sales tax
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