Where does “labour” come from?
Labour comes from Middle English labouren, from Old French laborer, from Latin laborare meaning to work or toil, derived from Latin labor meaning work or exertion, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European leb-.
labour (English): Effort expended on a particular task; toil, work;...
Definitions
- Effort expended on a particular task; toil, work;...
Ancestry of “labour”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | labouren | — |
| 2 | Old French | laborer | to work; to labor |
| 3 | Latin | labōrō | to toil, labor, work |
| 4 | Latin | lābor | work |
| 5 | Old Latin | labos | — |
| 6 | Romanian | labă | palm; paw |
| 7 | Hungarian | láb | leg; foot; support, stand |
| 8 | Proto-Uralic | luwe | bone |
| 9 | Proto-Iranian | *Hrawpācáh | fox |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-Iranian | *Hrawpāćás | fox |