workhouse
noun, verb
workhouse is spelled W-O-R-K-H-O-U-S-E: 9 letters. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,998th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, workhouse means “An institution for homeless poor people funded by the local parish, where the able-bodied were required to work” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of workhouse is workhouses.
How many letters and syllables are in workhouse?
| Letters | 9: W-O-R-K-H-O-U-S-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 36,998th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is workhouse?
Workhouse appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,998th 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).
What rhymes with workhouse?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as workhouse.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: housework.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of workhouse
- workhouses plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- work house
- workhousing participle, present
- workhoused participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does workhouse mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
UKAn institution for homeless poor people funded by the local parish, where the able-bodied were required to work.
- 2
USA prison in which the sentence includes manual labour.
- 3
archaicA place of manufacture; a factory.
verb
- 1
UKTo place (a person) in the workhouse (institution for the poor).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does workhouse come from?
From Middle English werkhous, from Old English weorchūs (“workshop, place of manufacture”), from Proto-Germanic *werkahūsą, equivalent to work + house.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).