different between work vs piece
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
piece
English
Alternative forms
- peece (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English pece, peece, peice, from Old French piece, from Late Latin petia, pettia, possibly from Gaulish *petty?, from Proto-Celtic *k?esdis (“piece, portion”); doublet of English fit, fytte, fytt (“musical piece, chapter”), Icelandic fit (“web”), German Fitze (“skein”), from Old High German *fitjâ. Compare Welsh peth, Breton pez (“thing”), Irish cuid. Compare French pièce, Portuguese peça, Spanish pieza.
Pronunciation
- enPR: p?s, IPA(key): /pi?s/
- Rhymes: -i?s
- Homophone: peace
Noun
piece (plural pieces)
- A part of a larger whole, usually in such a form that it is able to be separated from other parts.
- A single item belonging to a class of similar items
- (chess) One of the figures used in playing chess, specifically a higher-value figure as distinguished from a pawn; by extension, a similar counter etc. in other games.
- 1959, Hans Kmoch, Pawn Power in Chess, I:
- Pawns, unlike pieces, move only in one direction: forward.
- 1959, Hans Kmoch, Pawn Power in Chess, I:
- A coin, especially one valued at less than the principal unit of currency.
- a sixpenny piece
- An artistic creation, such as a painting, sculpture, musical composition, literary work, etc.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:musical composition
- An article published in the press.
- (military) An artillery gun.
- 1743, Robert Drury, The Pleasant, and Surprizing Adventures of Mr. Robert Drury, during his Fifteen Years Captivity on the Island of Madagascar, London, p. 55,[1]
- […] all our Ammunition was spent. Those of us who had Money made Slugs of it; their next Shift was to take the middle Screws out of their Guns, and charge their Pieces with them.
- 1743, Robert Drury, The Pleasant, and Surprizing Adventures of Mr. Robert Drury, during his Fifteen Years Captivity on the Island of Madagascar, London, p. 55,[1]
- (US, colloquial) A gun.
- (US, Canada, colloquial, short for hairpiece) A toupee or wig, especially when worn by a man.
- (Scotland, Ireland, Britain, US, dialectal) A slice or other quantity of bread, eaten on its own; a sandwich or light snack.
- 2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin 2009, page 46:
- My grannie came and gived them all a piece and jam and cups of water then I was to bring them back out to the street and play a game.
- 2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin 2009, page 46:
- (US, colloquial, vulgar) A sexual encounter; from piece of ass or piece of tail.
- (US, colloquial, mildly vulgar, short for piece of crap/piece of shit) A shoddy or worthless object (usually applied to consumer products like vehicles or appliances).
- (US, slang) A cannabis pipe.
- (baseball, uncountable) Used to describe a pitch that has been hit but not well, usually either being caught by the opposing team or going foul. Usually used in the past tense with get.
- (dated, sometimes derogatory) An individual; a person.
- c. 1579, Philip Sidney, The Defense of Poesy
- If I had not been a piece of a logician before I came to him.
- 1825, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Aid to Reflection
- His own spirit is as unsettled a piece as there is in all the world.
- c. 1579, Philip Sidney, The Defense of Poesy
- (obsolete) A castle; a fortified building.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)
- (US) A pacifier; a dummy.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:pacifier
- (colloquial) A distance.
- (rowing) A structured practice row, often used for performance evaluation.
- An amount of work to be done at one time; a unit of piece work.
Usage notes
When used as a baseball term, the term is figurative in that the baseball is almost never broken into pieces. It is rare in modern baseball for the cover of a baseball to even partially tear loose. In professional baseball, several new, not previously played baseballs are used in each game.
It could be argued that the phrase was never meant (not even metaphorically) to refer to breaking the ball into pieces, and that "get a piece of the ball" means the bat contacts only a small area of the ball - in other words, that the ball is hit off-center. In that case "get" would mean "succeed in hitting", not "obtain".
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:piece
Derived terms
Descendants
- Sranan Tongo: pisi
- ? Finnish: biisi
- ? Japanese: ??? (p?su)
Translations
See also
- chunk
- bit
- peace
Verb
piece (third-person singular simple present pieces, present participle piecing, simple past and past participle pieced)
- (transitive, usually with together) To assemble (something real or figurative).
- His adversaries […] pieced themselves together in a joint opposition against him.
- To make, enlarge, or repair, by the addition of a piece or pieces; to patch; often with out.
- (slang) To produce a work of graffiti more complex than a tag.
Derived terms
Middle French
Etymology
From Old French piece, from Vulgar Latin *pettia, from Gaulish *petty?, from Proto-Celtic *k?esdis (“piece, portion”).
Noun
piece f (plural pieces)
- piece, bit, part
- moment (duration of time)
Descendants
- French: pièce
- ? Danish: pjece
- ? Northern Kurdish: piyes
- ? Norwegian:
- Norwegian Bokmål: piece
- ? Romanian: pies?
- ? Russian: ?????? (p?jésa)
- ? Kazakh: ????? (p?esa)
- ? Swedish: pjäs
- ? Yiddish: ??????? (pyese)
- Norman: pièche (Jersey)
References
- piece on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)
Old French
Alternative forms
- pece
Etymology
From Late Latin pettia, from Gaulish *petty?, from Proto-Celtic *k?esdis (“piece, portion”).
Noun
piece f (oblique plural pieces, nominative singular piece, nominative plural pieces)
- piece, bit, part
- circa 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:
- Que del hiaume une piece tranche.
- It cuts a piece off his helmet
- Que del hiaume une piece tranche.
- circa 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:
Descendants
- Middle French: piece
- French: pièce
- ? Danish: pjece
- ? Northern Kurdish: piyes
- ? Norwegian:
- Norwegian Bokmål: piece
- ? Romanian: pies?
- ? Russian: ?????? (p?jésa)
- ? Kazakh: ????? (p?esa)
- ? Swedish: pjäs
- ? Yiddish: ??????? (pyese)
- Norman: pièche (Jersey)
- French: pièce
- Walloon: pîce
- ? Middle English: pece, pese, pesse, peace, pease, peise, pice, pise, piece, piese, pecche
- English: piece
- Sranan Tongo: pisi
- ? Finnish: biisi
- ? Japanese: ??? (p?su)
- Yola: peece
- ? Middle Irish: pissa
- Irish: píosa
- ? Scottish Gaelic: pìos
- English: piece
Polish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?p??.t?s?/
Noun
piece m inan
- inflection of piec:
- nominative plural
- accusative plural
- vocative plural
piece From the web:
- what pieces of chicken are dark meat
- what pieces of chicken are white meat
- what piece of work is man
- what piece of meat is brisket
- what pieces of armor are these
- what piece of evidence does susan
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