Where does “overwork” come from?
Overwork comes from Middle English overwerken, from Old English oferwyrċan, meaning to work excessively or exhaust through labor.
overwork (English): To make work too hard; To work too hard; To fill...
Definitions
- To make work too hard; To work too hard; To fill...
Ancestry of “overwork”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | overwerken | — |
| 2 | Old English | oferwyrċan | to overwork, overlay |
| 3 | Old English | wyrċan | to make; to work |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | *wurkijan | to work |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | *wurkijaną | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | wr̥ǵyéti | to be working, to be at work |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 9 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |