Noun: workman
| Singular | workman |
| Plural | workmen |
Sample Sentences
-
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. [2021 December 29, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques: Chester (1848)”, in RAIL, number 947, page 58:]
Nouns inflected like workman
whipman,
slaughterman,
seaman,
sawman,
saxman,
sanman,
headswoman,
kettleman,
given man,
skyman,
Manilaman,
boogyman,
brotherman,
beadman,
transgentleman,
baggageman,
first gentleman,
bedeman,
boothman,
hackneyman, etc. (List truncated at 20 nouns)
Etymology
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”). See: Middle English Nouns '
werkman', Old English Nouns '
weorcmann', Dutch Nouns '
werkman', Icelandic Nouns '
verkamaður'.