workmanship

UK/ˈwɜːk.mən.ʃɪp/US/ˈwɜːk.mən.ʃɪp/

nounB2+Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #10,368 of 15,258neutral

Workmanship is the quality of skill shown in something made. Fine workmanship, shoddy workmanship, a fault in workmanship.

It is about the making rather than the design, which is the distinction that matters in a warranty: a defect in materials or workmanship is covered, and a bad design usually is not. Poor workmanship is what a surveyor writes when a job was rushed.

Definitions of workmanship

1nounworkmanshipThe quality of skill shown in something made.B2+
“The table is beautifully made, and you can see the fine workmanship in every joint.”

workmanship is a quality.

Where it comes from

Workman plus -ship, an ending marking a state or quality, as in friendship.

Middle English
werkmanschipe
English, today
workmanship

From Middle English werkmanschipe. From Middle English werkmanschipe, equivalent to workman + ship.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

workmanship in the wild

The designs and workmanship was predominantly the duty of the company's creator, Chris Brady.
Brady Drum Company
Some of the artifacts contain amazing workmanship with gold.
Marlik
Ordered in October 1952, her gown took eight months of research, design, workmanship, and intricate embroidery to complete.
Coronation gown of Elizabeth II
Within the community itself, it is notable architecturally in terms of type, style, materials and workmanship.
Dog Creek School
Edwards Deming is that workers have a right to pride of workmanship: Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to pride of workmanship.
Pride of workmanship

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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