Workpieces

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A piece that constitutes a raw material or item being shaped or fabricated in a manufacturing process; an object being processed by a machine or tool during production in engineering; material that is handled to produce a finished product or complete a specific task in crafting or industry
2. An item that serves as the subject of manipulation in a manufacturing environment; a material object undergoing alteration through machines or tools to create a final form; a piece of work intended for improvement, modification, or completion in various fields of production
3. Any object that is utilized as a foundational element in creating or assembling a final product; an article being treated or transformed through mechanical means in industrial practices; a unit of material used in practical tasks or craftwork to achieve a desired end result

Etymology: "Workpieces" is the plural of "workpiece," a compound of "work" and "piece." The compound is a calque of German "Werkstück," meaning "piece of work" or "object being worked on," so English built the term by translating its parts rather than borrowing a foreign word. The surprise is that the English word is a word-for-word copy of a German one, and the German version carries the same sense of an object still in the process of being shaped. Both halves of the English compound are old and ordinary. "Work" comes from Old English "weorc," and "piece" came into English from Old French, where it referred to a portion or fragment of something. Put together, the two words describe a fragment of material that is the thing being labored upon, which is exactly what the term means on a shop floor today.

Synonyms: items, pieces, components