Arbeid
/ˈɑːr.baɪd/noun
Work or labor, especially in historical or dialectal English usage.
Did you know?The German cognate Arbeit appeared in the Nazi concentration-camp slogan Arbeit macht frei, turning an ordinary word for labor into one of history’s most chilling ideological phrases.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₂erbʰ-
“A reconstructed root associated with working or being engaged in activity; its deeper connections remain debated.”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*arbaidiz
“Work, labor, or hardship.”
Old High German
OHG
arbeit
“Work, effort, or hardship.”
Middle Dutch
Middle Dutch
arbeid
“Labor, work, or toil.”
Middle English period
English
arbeid
“A dialectal or regional borrowing meaning work or labor.”
Modern English
English
arbeid
“An archaic or dialectal term for work; the word is much more common today in Dutch and Afrikaans.”