I hope you are fortunate to have the day off from work, but I know that some people still have to work, or do labor, on this day anyway. In honor of the day, though, let’s examine the word “labor” and its relatives.
labor — a noun that in its simplest definition means “work” (— this word can also be used as a verb, “to labor,” and as an adjective, “a labor leader”)
labor — concerning the noun version of the word, this is the Spanish cognate of the same meaning, even though they more frequently use the word “trabajo” for “work”
The word “labor” comes to us from Latin’s labor, which, besides meaning “work,” also means “drudgery,” and “hardship.” That’s why the connotation of “labor” still brings up work that is difficult and strenuous, whether physically or mentally so.
My daughter is a paleontologist in charge of the laboratory pictured below. The word “laboratory” comes from the same place as the word “labor” because a “laboratory” is a place in which you can conduct work/research. The Spanish cognate for “laboratory” is “laboratorio.”
I mentioned above that the word “labor” can be used as an adjective. When it’s an adjective in Spanish, it becomes “laboral.” Thus, “the labor movement” is “el movimiento laboral.”
If a job takes a lot of “labor,” we might call it “laborious.” That adjective is “laborioso” for masculine words and “laboriosa” for feminine ones. A “laborious project” would be “un proyecto laborioso.” Sometimes we say that the project is “laborsome” in English, but that word would still be “laborioso” in Spanish.
If you’re a hardworking person, especially if your job requires strenuous work, then today is your day. “Labor Day” was created to honor you and other Americans like you. If you’d like to read about the history of the day, here’s a link to an interesting article about it: Labor Day origin
Writing these “Cognate Cognizance” weekly posts has been a “labor of love” for me these past two years. As I mentioned in last week’s post, I’m going to continue the weekly posts for paying subscribers only after September 15th (which officially marks two full years of writing this) and go to monthly posts for free subscribers. The paid subscription is only a few dollars a month.
I’d be so happy if you’d consider becoming a paying subscriber for a while at least. My birthday is next week, so you could think of it as a small gift to me for turning 55, if you’d like. In honor of my birthday, I’m extending the special offer if you subscribe now for a year.
If you’d prefer to subscribe for a month or two instead:
Thanks for reading. Until next week. Enjoy Labor Day!
Tammy Marshall
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