Meaning

verb exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity

verb be employed

verb have an effect or outcome; often the one desired or expected

originThe past participle of Middle English werken (“to work”), from Old English wyrċan (past tense worhte, past participle (ġe)worht; cf. also the metathetic variant (ġe)wroht), from Proto-West Germanic *wurkijan, from Proto-Germanic *wurkijaną (“to work”), from Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- (“to work”). Doublet of worked. Cognate with wright (as in wheelwright etc.), Dutch gewrocht, archaic past…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0