Coworkers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. People employed by the same organization who collaborate on tasks and projects
2. Colleagues functioning in a shared workplace to accomplish work-related goals
3. Individuals who are employed within the same organization and often collaborate on various professional duties

Etymology: "Coworkers" is simply the plural of "coworker," which combines the prefix "co-," meaning "together" or "jointly" (from Latin "com," "with"), with "worker." The prefix is the older and more interesting half of the story: "co-" was borrowed into English from Latin in the sense of "with" or "jointly," and it became a productive way to form words denoting shared participation, so a "coworker" is literally someone who works jointly with you. "Worker" itself has a longer English pedigree. It descends from Old English "wyrċan," "to work," which came from Proto-Germanic "wurkijaną," and the agent suffix "-ere" (Old English), which turned the verb into a word for the person doing the action. English "worker" thus grew from the same stock as "work," with a suffix that had long been used for doers of actions.

Synonyms: colleagues, associates