workman

CEFRB1

/ˈwɝkmən/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A man who does skilled or manual work.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A surname.

Examples

  • A bad workman always blames his tools.

  • A bad workman complains about his tools.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1
Citations
1

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. An artisan or craftsman.

  2. A man who labours for wages.

More examples

In context

  • It's a poor workman who blames his tools.

  • He laid the foundation stone on August 1 1847, and then set around 2,000 workmen loose on the undertaking. The station opened exactly one year later on August 1 1848.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The highly skilled blank repaired the broken roof in just under two hours.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English werkman, from Old English weorcmann (“workman”), from Proto-West Germanic *werkamann, from Proto-Germanic *werkamann- (“workman”), equivalent to work + -man. Compare Dutch werkman (“workman”), German Werkmann (“labourer, workman”), Icelandic verkamaður (“workman”).