English
shiftwork
From shift + work.
Proto-Indo-European *skey- ‘to cut’
…
Proto-Germanic *skiftijaną ‘to divide’
Proto-West Germanic *skiftijan
Old English sċiftan ‘to divide’
Middle English schiften ‘to split’
English shift
Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- ‘to make’
…
Proto-Germanic *werką
Proto-West Germanic *werk
Old English weorc ‘labor’
Middle English work
English work
Today it means
noun Scheduled work outside of customary daylight working hours.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “shiftwork”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / shiftwork