labourerlaborern.
/ˈleɪb(ə)rə/, U.S. /ˈleɪb(ə)rər/ 1. † b. Military. A person who carries out such work as part of a military force or expedition. Obsolete.
a. A person who performs physical labour, usually as a means of employment; a manual worker, esp. one carrying out unskilled work.Frequently with modifying word, as agricultural, casual, common, dock, farm, skilled, unskilled labourer, etc.: see the first element. Statute of Labourers (now historical) [compare post-classical Latin statutum artificum et laborariorum, statutum servientium, statutum operariorum, statutum pro operariis (from c1352 in British sources)] : the statute De Servientibus passed in 1351 which attempted to limit the level of wages for labourers in response to a shortage of labour caused by the Black Death.
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society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > [noun] > manual worker > labourer or unskilled
labourera1393
laboura1425
pioneer1543
hand1551
heaver1587
yard boy1776
son of toil1779
spalpeen1780
hacker1784
khalasi1785
tiger1865
cafone1872
mucker1899
mazdoor1937
bracero1946
manamba1959
nkuba kyeyo1991
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vi. l. 136 (MED) It makth me drawe out of the weie In soulein place be miselve, As doth a labourer to delve.
c1400 Simonie (Peterhouse) (1991) l. 388 Þei take þus with a pore man..Oþer of a wreched laborer þat lyueþ by hys hond.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 114 As kynge Pellynore rode in that valey he mette with a poore man, a laborer.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1957) iv. xi. l. 87 With fyre and sword to persew and doun thryng The lauboreris [1553 labouraris, L. colonos] discend from Dardanus.
1543 tr. Act 23 Edw. III (heading) Here begynnethe the Statute of Labourers.
1548 Act 2 & 3 Edw. VI c. 15 §4 No Person..shall..let or disturb any..Brickmaker, Tilemaker, Plummer or Labourer.
1600 R. Greene Neuer too Late (new ed.) ii. sig. Q3 The labourer to the fields his plough-swaynes guides.
a1658 J. Cleveland Rustick Rampant in Wks. (1687) 457 He complains..of the oppressures of the Commons, of withholding the Wages of poor Labourers.
1723 J. Barker Patch-work Screen for Ladies Introd. [He] ordered his Labourer..to be sure to come early on Monday-Morning to take Care of the Yard.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Transl. French Terms Travailleurs, the ordinary, or labourers, &c. employed to assist in fitting out shipping.
1785 W. Paley Moral & Polit. Philos. in Wks. (1825) IV. 25 To the labourer, every interruption is a refreshment.
1847 G. P. R. James Convict xx I am a labourer by trade.
1878 W. S. Jevons Polit. Econ. 71 Bricklayers' labourers refuse..to raise bricks to the upper parts of a building by a rope and winch.
1891 Daily News 1 Sept. 3/1 An intelligent villager—not a labourer, but a man of the working-class.
1915 Science May 769/1 Stone block, wood block and brick repairs..require skilled labourers who..are employed under the title of pavers and rammers.
1948 A. C. Kinsey et al. Sexual Behavior Human Male xi. 426 Occupational classes 2 and 3. Class 2 includes the day laborers and class 3 includes the semi-skilled laborers.
1971 P. Berton Last Spike v. ii. 200 The coolies were divided by the company that provided them into gangs of thirty labourers plus a cook, and assistant cook, and a bookman.
2006 M. W. Jackson Harmonious Triads vi. 152 Factory managers and owners set out to replace laborers with more reliable and efficient machines.
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1489 W. Caxton tr. C. de Pisan Bk. Fayttes of Armes xxx. sig. Jvii Item two thousand labourers for to make trenchez and the dyches about the palysses and other necessary thynges.
1514 Accts. Sir S. Norton 15 June in J. S. Brewer Lett. & Papers Reign Henry VIII (1864) (modernized text) II. 1511 Laborers at the plumbers with the gunners, casting shot, with the wheelwrights and carpenters, cleansing the organs, &c.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry V f. lviv The pyoners cast trenches & the laborers brought tymber.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. cxiiii Of bill men fiue. M. of pioners and laborers .ii. M. .vi. C.
1594 J. Smythe Certen Instr. Militarie 81 Of the pioners and labourers I would appoint some conuenient numbers to bee with the field peeces that were placed vppon the fruntes and corners of all the 4. battles to helpe to remoue, turne and mannage them.
1670 T. Blount Νομο-λεξικον: Law-dict. at Pioneers Such Labourers as are taken up for the Kings Army, to cast up Trenches, or undermine Forts.
1700 P. Rycaut Hist. Turks 148/2 The Soldiers were harassed, and tyred with continual Watchings and Pains; and the Pioneers and Labourers working beyond their strenght [sic], in the excessive heats fell into Malignant Fevers.
1799 New Ann. Reg. 1798 Public Papers 220 It is essential to ascertain what number of men..are willing to act as pioneers and labourers in case of invasion, or of very imminent danger thereof.
c. labourer in trust n. (also labourer of trust; frequently with capital initials) now historical an official, ranking immediately below a clerk of the works (Clerk of the Works n. at clerk n. Compounds 2), responsible for overseeing work on a major building project, a state building, etc.
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society > authority > office > holder of office > official of royal or great household > [noun] > other officers of royal or great household
yeoman of the crown1450
sea-fisher1455
solicitor1460
stationary1462
Clerk of the Signet1489
prothonotary1502
Clerk of the Check1541
yeoman of the revels1552
yeoman of the tents1552
Queen's Remembrancer1647
labourer in trust1746
Master of the Buckhounds1753
cock-crower1785
ministerial1818
1746 Laws, Ordin. & Inst. Admirality Great Brit. II. xii. 426 When any of his Majesty's Ships are broken up, he is to appoint..one or more Labourers of Trust such as himself shall be responsible for, to attend the Collection of all Iron Planks, Beams, Knees, &s, ripp'd up and found to be useful for future Store.
1779 J. Brown Rep. High Court Parl. 2 508 In truth, Jefferson was not a clerk of the works, but only a labourer in trust, to call the other workmen to their duty.
1804 Times 14 June 1/2 (advt.) Wanted..a man who is qualified for a Clerk of the Works, or Labourer in Trust.
1844 Jrnl. Statist. Soc. 7 58 The office establishment of these Commissioners, as then described [in 1834] consists..in the surveyor's department, of a surveyor, receiving 400l. per annum; a clerk of the works..one labourer in trust [etc.].
1853 W. Jerdan Autobiogr. IV. 52 He became what is called a labourer-in-trust on the establishment which has the charge of the Royal palaces.
1884 Trans. Lond. & Middlesex Archæol. Soc. 6 486 Mr. Adam Lee, the Labourer-in-Trust of the Houses of Parliament.
1954 H. M. Colvin Biogr. Dict. Eng. Architects 57 He was employed by the Board of Works at Hampton Court, where he held the post of Labourer in Trust.
2001 A. Tinniswood His Invention so Fertile xiv. 278 Acknowledging how much the building project had grown in complexity since the early days, the Commission dispensed with the Labourer in Trust.
2. A person who does work of any kind, a worker; esp. a person who works hard at a task. Occasionally also applied to animals.Frequently with implication of sense 1.
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society > occupation and work > worker > [noun]
man1381
workera1382
labourerc1400
piner1497
pair of hands1598
operator1611
operatist1651
operative1809
operant1831
ouvrier1845
scissorbill1910
rehire1927
c1400 J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 289 (MED) Þe laboureris of cristis chirche han leffully rentis & worldly possessiouns.
a1450 (c1412) T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum (Harl. 4866) (1897) l. 1348 (MED) Swych laborer þe kythe heere in þys lyf, Þat god þi soule..Reioise may.
?c1510 tr. Newe Landes & People founde by Kynge of Portyngale sig. Div They be great labourers.
1562 in F. J. Furnivall Child-marriages, Divorces, & Ratifications Diocese Chester (1897) 97 The said Ellin was taken for an honest wenche and a good laborer.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 70 Which Kyne are of the smalest body, and yet the greatest labourers.
1671 R. Baxter Second Admon. E. Bagshaw 104 He that is a servant of Christ, and a true Pastor of a Christian Church, and a sound Preacher of the Gospel,..and a diligent upright labourer for mens salvation, is something else than a servant of man.
1726 B. Holloway tr. J. Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth i. 6 As became a sincere Labourer in the Cause of Truth, he gave up his own, and came over to my Sentiments.
1787 G. Adams Ess. Microscope iv. 134 Boerhaave examined..all the letters and manuscripts of Swammerdam, and has communicated the result of his researches, which..may enable us to form some idea of this great labourer in the field of science.
1853 R. C. Trench Parables ix. 170 It is ever true in the heavenly world, that God who seeks his labourers, it is not they who seek him.
1865 Times 12 Apr. 12/4 There never was such a diligent labourer in his craft as Turner.
1948 Notes & Rec. Royal Soc. 5 100 The brief sketch just given..may serve to illustrate the general background into which this scheme was fitted..and also something of the nature of the man who was its chief protagonist and most earnest labourer.
2001 S. Heller in S. Heller & G. Ballance Graphic Design Hist. 155 Depero was an indefatigable laborer when it came to art and the propagation of futurist principles.
3. A worker bee or (in later use) other insect of the worker caste; = worker n. 7. Now rare.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > [noun] > member of > defined as social insect or association of > worker
labourer1609
worker1744
mule1797
nurse1818
acolyte1874
1609 C. Butler Feminine Monarchie iv. sig. D5 For he [sc. the Drone] worketh not at al, ether at home or abroad, and yet spendeth as much as two labourers.
a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) i. ii. 67 Since I nor wax nor honie can bring home, I quickly were dissolued from my hiue To giue some Labourers roome. View more context for this quotation
1781 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 71 145 The working insects, which, for brevity, I shall generally call labourers.
1806 J. Evans Bees I. 44 Light-wing'd Labourers! still, unwearied range From flow'r to flow'r, your only love of change!
1834 H. McMurtrie tr. G. Cuvier Animal Kingdom (abridged ed.) 430 The neuters or labourers..as to size, are intermediate between the males and females.
1878 J. W. Draper Human Physiol. (ed. 7) ii. viii. 605 When the metropolis of the termites is attacked, the laborers, as non-combatants, retire, but the soldiers come out.
1921 H. Mace Bk. Bee x. 75 It gnaws a hole in the covering of its cell and crawls into the open, taking its place among the labourers to assist in rearing a new generation of babies.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.a1393