A person who does physical work, especially unskilled manual work for wages.
From Old French laborer, from Latin laborare 'to work, toil,' from labor 'work, exertion.' The word has maintained its association with physical effort and often lower-skilled work throughout its history.
The distinction between 'laborer' and 'worker' often carries class implications, with 'laborer' specifically emphasizing physical, manual work. Many societies have complex hierarchies within labor, from skilled craftsmen to general laborers.
Historically coded masculine despite gender-neutral construction; labor movements often centered male workers while erasing women's domestic and agricultural labor equally valuable but unpaid or underpaid.
Use 'worker' or 'laborer' consciously, crediting women's parallel labor history.
["worker","labor contributor"]
Women laborers—from textile mills to agricultural work—built industrial economies but faced segregation, wage discrimination, and historical erasure. Their organizing (Triangle Waistmakers, farmworker alliances) remains foundational to labor rights.
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