labourer

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English

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Etymology

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From labour +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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labourer (plural labourers)

  1. British standard spelling of laborer.
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
      This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer.

Anagrams

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French

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Etymology

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Inherited from Middle French labourer, from Old French laborer, borrowed from Latin labōrāre. Replaced the Old French arer (to plough).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /la.bu.ʁe/
  • Audio:(file)

Verb

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labourer

  1. (transitive) to plough

Conjugation

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Derived terms

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Further reading

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Middle French

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Etymology

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From Old French laborer.

Verb

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labourer

  1. to work (to do work); to labor
  2. to manufacture; to make (in a work context)
    • 15th century, Rustichello da Pisa (original author), Mazarine Master (scribe), The Travels of Marco Polo, page 15, lines 5–6:
      Et si labourent draps d'or et de soie et de toutes façons trés beaux.
      And they manufacture cloths of gold and of silk which are in all ways very beautiful.

Descendants

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  • French: labourer

References

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  • labourer on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)