How ‘works’ works

Q: The word “works” (meaning “factory”) is a hard nut to crack. It looks plural but acts singular. Can it be used to speak about two factories? And how did it come to mean a factory in the first place? A: The noun “work” has been used in both singular and plural forms to mean a factory or plant since the 16th century, but the plural “works” is the usual form now and can refer to one or more industrial sites. As the online Merriam-Webster dictionary explains, “works” is “plural in form but singular or plural in construction” when it refers to “a place where industrial labor is carried on.” M-W has these examples: “got a job at a cement/lead works” … “The local steel works have shut down.” And here’s a recent example we’ve found where the term refers to more than one plant: “Union plans to escalate action over job losses at two steelworks in Wales” (headline in The Guardian, London, June 2, 2024). The noun was plural when first used to mean “an establishment or premises in which…