workfolk

English

Etymology

From work +‎ folk.

Noun

workfolk (usually uncountable, plural workfolks)

1. Collectively, people who perform manual labour.

   Synonym: workforce

   • 1892, Thomas Hardy, chapter XLII, in Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Volume 2, page 118:

     Tess waited outside the door of the farmhouse till the group of workfolk had received their wages, and then Marian introduced her.

References

• “workfolk”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.