Standard Lemma guide

workday

adj · noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: W ER1 K D EY2 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Alternative form of workaday.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, alternative

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Any of the days of a week on which work is done; any day in a workweek.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US

Examples

  • It will take five workdays to process your application.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

That part of a day in which work is done.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US

Examples

  • My workday is 8 hours.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

the amount of time that a worker must work for an agreed daily wage

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • they work an 8-hour day

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: working day

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: day

5

noun

Meaning 5

a day on which work is done

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: working day, work day

Antonyms: rest day

Broader terms: weekday

History

Etymology

From Middle English werkdai, werkedei, werkedai, from Old English weorcdæġ (“workday”), equivalent to work + day. Cognate with West Frisian wurkdei (“workday”), Dutch werkdag (“workday”), German Low German Warkdag (“workday”), German Werktag (“workday”). See also workaday.

Across languages

Translations

46 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Southern Altai: ишкӱн (iškün) — day on which work is done
  • Bulgarian: делник (delnik) — day on which work is done
  • Bulgarian: работен ден (raboten den) — day on which work is done
  • Catalan: dia feiner — day on which work is done
  • Chinese Mandarin: 工作日 (gōngzuòrì) — day on which work is done
  • Danish: arbejdsdag — day on which work is done
  • Dutch: werkdag — day on which work is done
  • Esperanto: labortago — day on which work is done
  • Finnish: työpäivä — day on which work is done
  • French: jour ouvrable — day on which work is done
  • Galician: día solto — day on which work is done
  • Galician: día laborable — day on which work is done
  • Hindi: कार्यदिवस (kāryadivas) — day on which work is done
  • Hungarian: munkanap — day on which work is done
  • Icelandic: virkur dagur — day on which work is done
  • Kumyk: иш гюн (iş gün) — day on which work is done
  • Macedonian: делник (delnik) — day on which work is done
  • Macedonian: работен ден (raboten den) — day on which work is done
  • Norwegian Bokmål: arbeidsdag — day on which work is done
  • Ojibwe: anokii-giizhigad — day on which work is done
  • Plautdietsch: Woakjeldach — day on which work is done
  • Polish: dzień powszedni — day on which work is done
  • Polish: dzień roboczy — day on which work is done
  • Portuguese: dia útil — day on which work is done
  • Romanian: zi lucrătoare — day on which work is done
  • Russian: рабо́чий день (rabóčij denʹ) — day on which work is done
  • Russian: будний день (budnij denʹ) — day on which work is done
  • Russian: трудодень (trudodenʹ) — day on which work is done
  • Spanish: día laborable — day on which work is done
  • Spanish: día hábil — day on which work is done
  • Spanish: día laboral — day on which work is done
  • Vietnamese: ngày công — day on which work is done
  • Vietnamese: ngày làm việc — day on which work is done
  • Bulgarian: работно време (rabotno vreme) — part of a day on which work is done
  • Catalan: jornada diària — part of a day on which work is done
  • Chinese Mandarin: 工作時間 /工作时间 (gōngzuò shíjiān) — part of a day on which work is done
  • Danish: arbejdsdag — part of a day on which work is done
  • Finnish: työpäivä — part of a day on which work is done
  • French: journée de travail — part of a day on which work is done
  • Macedonian: работно време (rabotno vreme) — part of a day on which work is done
  • Norwegian Bokmål: arbeidsdag — part of a day on which work is done
  • Polish: roboczodniówka — part of a day on which work is done
  • Romanian: timp zilnic de lucru — part of a day on which work is done
  • Russian: рабочее вре́мя (rabočeje vrémja) — part of a day on which work is done
  • Russian: рабо́чий день (rabóčij denʹ) — part of a day on which work is done
  • Spanish: jornada — part of a day on which work is done
Real reading context

workday in complete knowledge articles