Overwork

Overwork

Verb / Noun · /ˌəʊ.vəˈwɜːk/ (verb), /ˈəʊ.vəˌwɜːk/ (noun)

Definition

(Verb) to work too hard or for too long; to cause a person, animal, or mechanism to work beyond their capacity; to use something too frequently — to overwork a phrase. (Noun) excessive work; work beyond what is healthy or reasonable; the state of being made to work too hard.

Origin

From over- (in excess) + work (Old English weorc, weorc, from Proto-Germanic *werką, work, action). Overwork therefore meaning work in excess — beyond the appropriate amount or the body's capacity to sustain. Appearing in English from the sixteenth century. The concept of overwork being central to the social and economic critique of industrial capitalism — the overworked factory worker, the overworked Victorian domestic servant, the overworked Victorian child labourer. Also functioning in a figurative sense: an overworked metaphor, an overworked phrase — used too often until its effectiveness is exhausted.