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Labrers

Noun
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

An old spelling of "laborers," meaning workers. The form is archaic and may look unfamiliar at first glance.

Detailed Definition
This is Blake’s older spelling for people who work for wages or by hand. The meaning is straightforward once recognized, but the spelling is archaic and can slow modern readers down.
Example
Example in poetry:
Blake writes, “One Mite wrung from the Labrers hands,” using Labrers as an older spelling of laborers; “The labrers bent above the wheat” evokes workers through archaic social diction; Blake’s poem condemns wealth extracted from working people; Modern spelling, “laborers,” may be used in paraphrase, but Labrers preserves the original’s historical voice
Additional Notes
"Labrers" is an archaic spelling in the quoted line, so readers may need to decode it as "laborers."; Found in the poem, Auguries of Innocence by William Blake
Also Known As
laborers workers toilers
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