openwork
/ˈoʊpənwɝk/noun
openwork is a noun meaning “Any of several forms of metalwork or needlework having decorative openings” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled O-P-E-N-W-O-R-K and has 3 syllables, and it appears about once in every 12 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of openwork is openworks.
What does openwork mean?
noun
- 1
Any of several forms of metalwork or needlework having decorative openings.
- 2
A quarry; an open cut.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce openwork?
- /ˈəʊpənwɜː(ɹ)k/
- US /ˈoʊpənwɝk/
Openwork has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of openwork
- openworks plural
- open-work
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is openwork?
Openwork appears about once in every 12 million words in written English, the 105,204th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Openwork in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense metalwork or needlework having decorative openings:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | calado |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does openwork come from?
From open + work.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).