Workaday is an alteration of Middle English werkeday ('a working day, weekday'), from work + day; the figurative sense 'ordinary, mundane' developed by extension. From Old English weorc and dæg. In current use it is an adjective meaning "ordinary, everyday, and unremarkable; mundane". That sense is explained by the older material without requiring a speculative semantic step: the inherited or borrowed base supplies the field of meaning, while the English formation fixes its modern role. The surface form is compositional: its joined elements remain visible in the modern word. The historical chain includes Old English weorc and Old English dæg. Related English forms include work and day. The semantic development is therefore important as well as the form: the word moves from the older concrete, technical, or literal setting into the present figurative or specialized sense.