Etymology Explorer › English

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

  1. Effort expended on a particular task; toil, work;...

Ancestry of “labour”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishlabouren—
2Old Frenchlaborerto work; to labor
3Latinlabōrō—
4Latinlābor—
5Old Latinlabos—
6Romanianlabăpalm; paw
7Hungarianlábleg; foot; support, stand
8Proto-Uralicluwebone
9Proto-Iranian*Hrawpācáh—
10Proto-Indo-Iranian*Hrawpāćás—

Words derived from “labour”

  • belabour
  • laboureth
  • labourism
  • prelabour
  • labourist
  • laboursome
  • laborite
  • labourest
  • laborsome
  • nonlabour
  • overlabour
  • labourous
  • antilabour
  • labourously
  • labouress
  • anti-labour
  • belabourer
  • belaboureth
  • outlabour
  • Labour Party
  • mislabour
  • laburist
  • лабурист
Every word from Proto-Indo-Iranian *Hrawpāćás →