Laboratore

Laboratore is an Italian term that historically referred to a person who performs manual labor. In contemporary Italian the common word for such a person is lavoratore; laboratore is now rare, typically found in older documents, regional dialects, or literary uses. As a lexical form, it belongs to the same family as lavorare (to work) and laboratorio (laboratory) through the Latin root labor.

Etymology and usage: The word derives from Latin laborator, from labor meaning "work," with the agentive suffix -ore, yielding "one who works." In historical writing it could refer to a craftsman or worker within a guild or workshop; in moral or religious discourses, a laborer might be used emblematically to denote diligence or earned labor. In some dialects, laboratore persisted longer than standard Italian, though its frequency declined with the standardization of lavoratore.

Contemporary status: Today laboratore is generally considered archaic or literary. It may appear in translations, epigraphs, or stylistic uses to evoke antiquity or formality. It is not used as a respectful contemporary job-title or occupational term in standard Italian.

See also: lavoratore, laboratorio, lavoro.