labor

English Online Dictionary. What means labor‎? What does labor mean?

English

Alternative forms

• labour (non-American spelling)

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈleɪ.bɚ/
• Rhymes: -eɪbə(ɹ)

Noun

labor (countable and uncountable, plural labors)

1. (chiefly American spelling) Alternative spelling of labour

Derived terms

Related terms

• laboral
• laborious

Verb

labor (third-person singular simple present labors, present participle laboring, simple past and past participle labored)

1. US standard spelling of labour.

Anagrams

• Albor, Albro, Balor, Bolar, bolar, boral, lobar

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin labōrem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ləˈβor]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ləˈbo]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [laˈboɾ]

Noun

labor m (plural labors)

1. labour, work

Estonian

Etymology

Clipping of laboratoorium.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɑb̥or/, [ˈlɑb̥or]
• Rhymes: -ɑbor
• Hyphenation: la‧bor

Noun

labor (genitive labori, partitive laborit)

1. lab, laboratorium

   Synonym: laboratoorium

Declension

References

• labor in Sõnaveeb (Eesti Keele Instituut)
• “labor”, in [EKSS] Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat [Descriptive Dictionary of the Estonian Language] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2009

Hungarian

Etymology

Borrowed from German Labor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɒbor]
• Hyphenation: la‧bor

Noun

labor (plural laborok)

1. (informal) lab, laboratory

   Synonym: laboratórium

Declension

References

Latin

Etymology 1

From Old Latin labōs, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from a Proto-Indo-European root *leb- (“to seize, take”), whence Sanskrit लभते (labhate, “take, gain”) and Lithuanian lõbis (“wealth”). More commonly connected with labō (“I totter”) (see Etymology 2 below), via semantic development "teetering under a heavy load" > "burden" > "work", but this is rejected by de Vaan, who however provides no alternative. The semantic connection is weak in either case.

Prósper (2019, 27 (483)) suggests a possible root *dh̥₂bʰ-ōs, cognate with Lithuanian dobti (“to strike, beat, kill, (dial.) torment, exhaust”). See source for more.

Alternative forms

• labōs

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈla.bor/, [ˈɫ̪äbɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈla.bor/, [ˈläːbor]

Noun

labor m (genitive labōris); third declension

2. work
3. labor, toil, exertion

   Synonyms: cōnātus, studium, opus, opera, cūra, mōlīmen, intēnsiō, mōlēs, pulvis
4. (chiefly poetic) hardship, trouble, fatigue, suffering, drudgery, distress
5. illness

   Synonyms: aegritūdō, morbus, malum, pestis, incommodum, valētūdō, infirmitas

   Antonyms: salūs, valētūdō

6. the pain accompanying childbirth, labor

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Derived terms

• labōrō
• ēlabōrō

Descendants

Etymology 2

Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh₂b- (“to hang loosely, be weak”), and cognate with labō, English sleep, Proto-Slavic *slàbъ (“weak”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈlaː.bor/, [ˈɫ̪äːbɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈla.bor/, [ˈläːbor]

Verb

lābor (present infinitive lābī, perfect active lāpsus sum); third conjugation, deponent

2. to slip, slide, glide
3. to fall, sink down
4. to slip, stumble
5. to vanish, pass away, elapse, escape

   Synonyms: fugiō, effugiō, ēvādō, refugiō, cōnfugiō, diffugiō, aufugiō, prōfugiō, āvolō, ēripiō, ēlābor
7. to be mistaken, be wrong, err, commit a fault

   Synonyms: dēlinquō, errō, committō, offendō

Conjugation

This verb takes the future passive participle lābundus instead of *lābendus.

Derived terms

References

Further reading

• “labor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “labor”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "labor", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
• labor in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016

Anagrams

• albor, labrō

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin labōrem.

Pronunciation

Noun

labor m (plural labores)

1. labor

Related terms

• lavor

Further reading

• “labor”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
• “labor”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin labōrem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laˈboɾ/ [laˈβ̞oɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: la‧bor

Noun

labor f (plural labores)

1. labor
2. job, task, chore

   Synonyms: tarea, quehacer

3. work, effort

   Synonyms: trabajo, obra

4. needlework, embroidery

   Synonyms: costura, bordado

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

• “labor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10