Mental labor or intellectual activity, especially work that requires thinking rather than physical effort; the use of one's intellect for employment.
Compound of 'brain' and 'work'; emerged in the industrial era (19th century) to distinguish intellectual labor from physical labor as societies became more specialized economically.
The distinction between 'brainwork' and manual labor became really important in the industrial age—workers were suddenly categorized by whether they used their minds or muscles, fundamentally changing how societies valued different types of labor.
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