Work of art in its modern sense (as anything wondrous to behold) is first recorded in 1774, however there is an earlier sense dating from 1728 when it was clearly coined to refer solely to something created by mankind.
Work ethic is first seen in 1959.
Out of work, or unemployed if you prefer, is first recorded as early as 1590.
Making short work of something is first seen in the 1640s.
The proverb ‘many hands make light work’ is first recorded around 1300.
Having one’s work cut out for one is first seen in 1610.
Work in progress is recorded for the first time in 1930.
To work in (clay, wood, metal, etc) is seen for the first time in the 1670s.
To work up (a sweat, excite, raise, etc) appears for the first time in print around 1590.
To work over, as in to beat up, dates from 1927.
To work against, as in to undermine - delay, subvert – dates from the late 14th century.
To work out, in the physical sense, is recorded in 1530; in the mathematical sense from 1821; in the sense of emerge from around 1600; and in the mining sense from 1540.
Guesswork is first seen in 1725.
Fieldwork, as in gathering statistics or other on the ground research, appears in a document dated 1767, and in a military sense in 1819.
Legwork first appears in print in 1891, but then was used solely by news reporters to refer to a story which resulted in a great deal of physical work compared to the resulting word count.
Masterwork is used to refer to one which sets a standard or model, first appearing in 1610 and thought to have come to English from Dutch and/or German.
Nobody was considered a night-worker until 1590 – of course people did work nights, but the phrase is not used until the late 16th century.
Overwork, as in working too hard, appears in a document dated 1520. Yet the word had been in use for almost a thousand years prior to that, but used in the sense of ‘to redo’.
Piecework is something from a couple of generations ago, it is being paid by performance, but historically this had been used since the middle of the 16th century.
Homework, something I never saw any of my siblings do (perhaps they thought I had enough for all of us), is first seen in 1934. Prior to that it was used to refer to tuition in the home, and earlier still any cottage industry.
Handiwork appears as early as the 12th century.
Patchwork is first seen in 1690 and used in a derogatory sense to describe ‘that put together clumsily’, and first sense in the modern sense just 30 years later.
Workday is pretty obvious one would think, and yes since the early 16th century that is what the word has implied. Yet prior to that, and from the pre-Norman era, it had the opposite meaning in being ‘a day when work was suspended’.
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