working

EnglishEdit

PronunciationEdit

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwɜːkɪŋ/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈwɝkɪŋ/
Audio (GA) (file)
Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)kɪŋ
Hyphenation: work‧ing

Etymology 1Edit

From Middle English werking, werkynge, warkynge, worchinge, from Old English wyrċing (“working”), verbal noun of wyrċan (“to work”), equivalent to work +‎ -ing. Cognate with Scots wirking, warking, Dutch werking, German Wirkung.

NounEdit

working (countable and uncountable, plural workings)

(usually in the plural) Operation; action.
Method of operation.
(arithmetic) The incidental or subsidiary calculations performed in solving an overall problem.
Be sure to check your working.
Fermentation.
(of bodies of water) Becoming full of a vegetable substance.
A place where work is carried on.
the abandoned mine workings
(countable) A train movement.
- 1960 December, Cecil J. Allen, “Operating a mountain main line: the Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon: Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 743:
  From time to time the coaches of the Lötschberg Railway itself, which in comfort and décor can rank with the finest in Europe today, travel far from the frontiers of Switzerland on through workings such as these.

Derived termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

operation; action

Bulgarian: действие (bg) n (dejstvie), функциониране n (funkcionirane)
Finnish: työ (fi), työskenteleminen (fi), työn tekeminen (fi), toimiminen (fi)
Portuguese: serviço (pt) m

method of operation

Finnish: toimintatapa (fi), työskentelytapa
French: fonctionnement (fr) m
German: Ansatz (de) m
Portuguese: funcionamento (pt) m

fermentation

Finnish: käyminen (fi)

becoming full of a vegetable substance

Finnish: rehevöityminen

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked‌: "action of the verb work"

French: ^{(please verify)} fonctionnement (fr) m
Scots: ^{(please verify)} wirkin

Etymology 2Edit

From Middle English workyng, wirkynge, worchinge, werchinge, workinde, wirkand, worchende, wurchende, from Old English wyrċende, from Proto-Germanic *wurkijandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *wurkijaną (“to work”), equivalent to work +‎ -ing. Compare Scots wirkand, werkand, warkand (“working”), Dutch werkend (“working, acting”), German wirkend (“acting, working”).

VerbEdit

working

present participle of work
Leave him alone; he’s working.

AdjectiveEdit

working (not comparable)

That is or are functioning.
a working ventilator
That suffices but requires additional work.
a working copy of the script
In paid employment.
working mothers
Of or relating to employment.
the working week
Enough to allow one to use something.
a working knowledge of computers
Used in real life; practical.
The working minimum focus distance is the distance from the closest focusable subject to the lens.
(obsolete) Efficacious.
- c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene iii:
  You ſee my Lord, what woorking woordes hee hath.
  But when you ſee his actions ſtop ^{[sic – meaning top]} his ſpeech,
  Your ſpeech will ſtay, or ſo extol his worth,
  As I ſhalbe commended and excuſde
  For turning my poore charge to his direction.