Rework comes from re- ('again') + work, the latter from Old English weorc ('deed, action, labor'), from Proto-Germanic *werką, from Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- ('to do, make'). The historical chain includes Old English weorc and Proto-Indo-European *werǵ-. The quoted older senses, "again", "deed, action, labor", and "to do, make", supply the semantic anchors for rework. The formation is best read as compound and borrowed: the word rework carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a verb, "to alter or process again in order to improve or correct". English derivatives include reworked and reworking; related English forms include work, rewrought, and workable. The result is a verb and noun whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.