labor

See also: Labor

English

Pronunciation

• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈleɪ.bɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪbə(ɹ)

Noun

labor (countable and uncountable, plural labors)

1. (chiefly American spelling) Alternative spelling of labour.

Derived terms

Terms derived from labor (noun)

• affective labor
• antilabor
• anti-labor
• aristocracy of labor
• back labor
• belabor
• big labor
• bonded labor
• child labor
• day labor
• division of labor
• emotional labor
• forced labor
• ghost labor
• hard labor
• introversive labor
• labor action
• labor aristocracy
• labor camp
• labor court
• Labor Day
• laborer
• laboress
• labor exchange
• labor force
• labor-intensive
• labor-intensiveness
• laborist
• laborization
• labor law
• laborless
• laborlore
• labor market
• labor of love
• labor pain
• Labor Party
• labor power
• labor relations
• labor-saver
• labor-saving
• labor share
• labor theory of value
• labor the point
• labor union
• labor value theory
• labor-value theory
• manual labor
• means of labor
• micro-labor
• microlabor
• nonlabor
• overlabor
• playbor
• prelabor
• prison labor
• sexual division of labor
• Sisyphean labor
• slave labor
• stoop labor
• subject of labor
• touch labor
• wage labor
• yeoman's labor

Related terms

• laboral
• laborious

Verb

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

1. (chiefly American spelling) Alternative spelling of labour.

Anagrams

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

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin labōrem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ləˈβur]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ləˈbo]
• IPA^(key): (Central) [ləˈβor]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [laˈboɾ]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [laˈβor]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

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

Declension of labor (ÕS type 2e/minut, no gradation)
		singular	plural
nominative		labor	laborid
accusative	nom.
	gen.	labori
genitive			laborite
partitive		laborit	laboreid
illative		laborisse	laboritesse laboreisse
inessive		laboris	laborites laboreis
elative		laborist	laboritest laboreist
allative		laborile	laboritele laboreile
adessive		laboril	laboritel laboreil
ablative		laborilt	laboritelt laboreilt
translative		laboriks	laboriteks laboreiks
terminative		laborini	laboriteni
essive		laborina	laboritena
abessive		laborita	laboriteta
comitative		laboriga	laboritega

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

Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	labor	laborok
accusative	labort	laborokat
dative	labornak	laboroknak
instrumental	laborral	laborokkal
causal-final	laborért	laborokért
translative	laborrá	laborokká
terminative	laborig	laborokig
essive-formal	laborként	laborokként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	laborban	laborokban
superessive	laboron	laborokon
adessive	labornál	laboroknál
illative	laborba	laborokba
sublative	laborra	laborokra
allative	laborhoz	laborokhoz
elative	laborból	laborokból
delative	laborról	laborokról
ablative	labortól	laboroktól
non-attributive possessive – singular	laboré	laboroké
non-attributive possessive – plural	laboréi	laborokéi

Possessive forms of labor

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	laborom	laborjaim
2nd person sing.	laborod	laborjaid
3rd person sing.	laborja	laborjai
1st person plural	laborunk	laborjaink
2nd person plural	laborotok	laborjaitok
3rd person plural	laborjuk	laborjaik

Interlingua

Etymology

Derived from English labor, French labeur, Italian lavoro, Spanish labor and Portuguese labor, all from Latin labor. Compare Esperanto laboro, Ido laboro.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laˈbor/

Noun

labor (plural labores)

1. labour, work, toil

Related terms

• laborar
• laborator
• laboratorio
• laboriose
• laboriositate

Further reading

• Alexander Gode (1951), “labor”, in Interlingua-English: A Dictionary of the International Language, New York: Storm Publishers, →OL, page 215

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”).(Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)
• More commonly connected with labō (“to 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 suggests a possible root *dh̥₂bʰ-ōs, cognate with Lithuanian dobti (“to strike, beat, kill, (dial.) torment, exhaust”). See source for more.

Alternative forms

• labōs (Old Latin)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈɫa.bɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈlaː.bor]

Noun

labor m (genitive labōris); third declension

2. work
3. labor, toil, exertion

   Synonyms: cōnātus, studium, opus, opera, cūra, mōlīmen, intēnsiō, mōlēs, pulvis

   • 8 CE, Ovidius, Fasti 4.641–642:

     rege Numa, frūctū nōn respondente labōrī,
     inrita dēceptī vōta colentīs erant

     When Numa was king, the produce not responding to the labor,
     prayers were ineffective, the farmer deceived

4. (chiefly poetic) hardship, trouble, fatigue, suffering, drudgery, distress
   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico VII.28:

     Labore operis incitati

     Incited by the fatigue of the work

   • 8 CE, Ovidius, Fasti 6.384–385:

     et mediae tempora noctis erant, iam ducibus somnum dederat labor

     It was midnight, and by now their fatigue had given the leaders sleep.

5. illness

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

   Antonyms: salūs, valētūdō

6. the pain accompanying childbirth, labour

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	labor	labōrēs
genitive	labōris	labōrum
dative	labōrī	labōribus
accusative	labōrem	labōrēs
ablative	labōre	labōribus
vocative	labor	labōrēs

Derived terms

• labōrō
• ēlabōrō

Descendants

• Italo-Dalmatian:
  • Istriot: lavur
  • Italian: lavoro
  • Neapolitan: lavoro
  • Sicilian: lavuri
  • Venetan: łavóro, laóro
• Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Friulian: lavôr
  • Ladin: lëur
  • Romansh: lavur
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Catalan: llavor
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Old Leonese: lauor, llauor, lavor
    • Asturian: llabor, (obsolete) llavor
    • ⇒ Mirandese: lhaboriar
  • Galician: >? labor
  • Portuguese: lavor

Borrowings

• → Catalan: labor
• → Old French: labor
  • French: labeur
  • → English: labor, labour
• → Esperanto: laboro
• → Ido: laboro
• → Portuguese: labor
• → Proto-Brythonic: *llaβʉr
  • Breton: laur
  • Middle Cornish: lavur
  • Cornish: lavur
  • Middle Welsh: llauur
    • Welsh: llafur
• → Romanian: laboare
• → Spanish: labor

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): [ˈɫaː.bɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈlaː.bor]

Verb

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

1. to slip, slide, glide; (of fluids) to flow gently
   • c. 37 BCE – 30 BCE, Vergilius, Georgicon 2.346–353:

     Quod superest, quaecumque premes virgulta per agros,
     Sparge fimo pingui et multa memor occule terra,
     Aut lapidem bibulum aut squalentis infode conchas;
     Inter enim labentur aquae tenuisque subibit
     Halitus atque animos tollent sata; iamque reperti,
     Qui saxo super atque ingentis pondere testae
     Urgerent; hoc effusos munimen ad imbris,
     Hoc, ubi hiulca siti findit canis aestifer arva.

     • Translation by James B. Greenough

       For the rest, whate'er
       The sets thou plantest in thy fields, thereon
       Strew refuse rich, and with abundant earth
       Take heed to hide them, and dig in withal
       Rough shells or porous stone, for therebetween
       Will water trickle and fine vapour creep,
       And so the plants their drooping spirits raise.
       Aye, and there have been, who with weight of stone
       Or heavy potsherd press them from above;
       This serves for shield in pelting showers, and this
       When the hot dog-star chaps the fields with drought.

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

   Synonyms: fugiō, effugiō, ēvādō, refugiō, cōnfugiō, diffugiō, aufugiō, prōfugiō, āvolō, ēripiō, ēlābor

   • 8 CE, Ovidius, Fasti 6.771–772:

     Tempora lābuntur, tacitīsque senēscimus annīs,
     et fugiunt frēnō nōn remorante diēs.

     Times pass away, and with years unnoticed we grow old, and days flee with no bridle holding [them] back.

6. 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.

   Conjugation of lābor (third conjugation, deponent)

indicative		singular						plural
		first		second		third		first		second		third
active	present	lābor		lāberis, lābere		lābitur		lābimur		lābiminī		lābuntur
	imperfect	lābēbar		lābēbāris, lābēbāre		lābēbātur		lābēbāmur		lābēbāminī		lābēbantur
	future	lābar		lābēris, lābēre		lābētur		lābēmur		lābēminī		lābentur
	perfect	lāpsus + present active indicative of sum
	pluperfect	lāpsus + imperfect active indicative of sum
	future perfect	lāpsus + future active indicative of sum
subjunctive		singular						plural
		first		second		third		first		second		third
active	present	lābar		lābāris, lābāre		lābātur		lābāmur		lābāminī		lābantur
	imperfect	lāberer		lāberēris, lāberēre		lāberētur		lāberēmur		lāberēminī		lāberentur
	perfect	lāpsus + present active subjunctive of sum
	pluperfect	lāpsus + imperfect active subjunctive of sum
imperative		singular						plural
		first		second		third		first		second		third
active	present	—		lābere		—		—		lābiminī		—
	future	—		lābitor		lābitor		—		—		lābuntor
non-finite forms		infinitive						participle
		active			passive			active			passive
present		lābī			—			lābēns			—
future		lāpsūrum esse			—			lāpsūrus			lābendus, lābundus
perfect		lāpsum esse			—			lāpsus			—
future perfect		lāpsum fore			—			—			—
perfect potential		lāpsūrum fuisse			—			—			—
verbal nouns		gerund								supine
		genitive		dative		accusative		ablative		accusative		ablative
		lābendī		lābendō		lābendum		lābendō		lāpsum		lāpsū

Derived terms

• collābor
• dīlābor
• ēlābor
• illābor
• interlābor
• lābēs
• lābilis
• lābīna
• lābundus
• lapsō
• lāpsus
• relābor
• subterlābor

Further reading

• “labor (noun)”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “lābor (verb)”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “lābor (noun)”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “lābor (verb)”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “labor”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• "labor", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, 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.
  • to exert oneself very energetically in a matter: multum operae ac laboris consumere in aliqua re
    
  • the matter involves much labour and fatigue: res est multi laboris et sudoris
    
  • to spare no pains: labori, operae non parcere
    
  • not to leave off work for an instant: nullum tempus a labore intermittere
    
  • to spare oneself the trouble of the voyage: labore supersedēre (itineris) (Fam. 4. 2. 4)
    
  • capable of exertion: patiens laboris
    
  • lazy: fugiens laboris
    
  • to take a false step: per errorem labi, or simply labi
    
  • to make a slip of the memory: memoriā labi
    
  • to make a mistake in writing: labi in scribendo
    
  • immorality is daily gaining ground: mores in dies magis labuntur (also with ad, e.g. ad mollitiem)
    
  • (ambiguous) to drain the cup of sorrow: omnes labores exanclare
    
  • (ambiguous) rest after toil is sweet: acti labores iucundi (proverb.)
    
• labor in Ramminger, Johann (16 July 2016 (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

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /laˈboʁ/ [laˈboh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /laˈboʁ/ [laˈboh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /laˈboɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /laˈboʁ/ [laˈboχ]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /laˈboɻ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /lɐˈboɾ/ [lɐˈβoɾ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /lɐˈboɾ/ [lɐˈβoɾ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /lɐˈbo.ɾi/

Noun

labor m (plural labores)

1. labor

Related terms

• lavor

Further reading

• “labor”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “labor”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Old Latin labōs

Latin labor

Old Spanish lavor

Spanish labor

Inherited from Old Spanish lavor, from Latin labor.

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

• estar por la labor

Related terms

• laboral
• laborar
• laborioso
• labrar

Further reading

• “labor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025