Unworked

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Not subjected to any labor or processing
2. remaining in a raw, unrefined state devoid of human alteration
3. Not yet altered by any kind of work or processing, remaining in its original natural state

Etymology: "Unworked" is about as plain as English compounds get: the prefix "un-", meaning "not", attached to "worked", the past participle of "work". Its Middle English ancestors, "unwerked" and "unwerched", show the same construction, with the older spelling of "worked" still visible in them. The more interesting relative is "unwrought", which is a doublet of "unworked": the two words come from the same Middle English source but took different paths into the language. "Wrought" is the older past form of "work" that survived in set phrases and in adjectives such as "wrought iron", so "unwrought" kept that older vowel while "unworked" followed the regular "-ed" pattern. Both mean something that has not yet been shaped by labour, and the pair shows how a single root can split into two forms that carry the same sense.

Synonyms: untreated, raw, unprocessed, unrefined, natural

Antonyms: worked, processed, refined, manufactured, finished