working

B1 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ˈwɝkɪŋ/ UK /ˈwɜːkɪŋ/ See IPA manual

Freq #369

Meanings

1

verb
Present participle of work; doing a job or task.

Leave him alone; he's working.
2

adj
Functioning correctly; in operation.

We finally have a working internet connection.
3

adj
Good enough to use for now, but not yet final.

This is just a working draft of the report.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 adj · functioning correctly; in... running functioning

3 adj · good enough to use for now,... draft

More provisional temporary

Opposites

broken broken-down

Word family

Forms workings

Derived forms homeworkingmisworking

Related forms work

Appears in

Phrases (3)

See all

Proverbs (3)

See all

Etymology

From Middle English workyng, wirkynge, worchinge, werchinge, workinde, wirkand, worchende, wurchende, from Old English wyrċende, from Proto-Germanic *wurkijandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *wurkijaną (“to work”), equivalent to work + -ing. Compare Scots wirkand, werkand, warkand (“working”), Dutch werkend (“working, acting”), German wirkend (“acting, working”).

workyng Middle English wyrċende Old English *wurkijandz Proto-Germanic *wurkijaną Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# working

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** verb, adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈwɝkɪŋ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈwɜːkɪŋ/
**Frequency rank:** 369

## Meanings
1. Present participle of work; doing a job or task.
2. Functioning correctly; in operation.
3. Good enough to use for now, but not yet final.

## Examples
- Leave him alone; he's working.
- We finally have a working internet connection.
- This is just a working draft of the report.

## Synonyms
- provisional
- temporary

## Antonyms
- broken
- broken-down

## Derived Forms
- homeworking
- misworking

## Related Forms
- work

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: workyng
- Root: wyrċende
- Root: *wurkijandz
- Root: *wurkijaną

## Etymology
From Middle English workyng, wirkynge, worchinge, werchinge, workinde, wirkand, worchende, wurchende, from Old English wyrċende, from Proto-Germanic *wurkijandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *wurkijaną (“to work”), equivalent to work + -ing. Compare Scots wirkand, werkand, warkand (“working”), Dutch werkend (“working, acting”), German wirkend (“acting, working”).

## AI Etymology
Working is from Middle English workyng, wirkynge, worchinge, werchinge, workinde, wirkand, worchende, wurchende, from Old English wyrċende, from Proto-Germanic *wurkijandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *wurkijaną (“to work”), equivalent to work + -ing. Compare Scots wirkand, werkand, warkand (“working”), Dutch werkend (“working, acting”), German wirkend (“acting, working”). Important historical forms include Middle English workyng, Old English wyrċende, Proto-Germanic *wurkijandz, and Proto-Germanic *wurkijaną. In present-day use, it can mean present participle of work; doing a job or task, or functioning correctly; in operation.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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