starfsemi

From starfsamur (“diligent, industrious”) +‎ -i f (abstract noun suffix) or starf n (“work, activity”) +‎ -semi f (“-ness”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈstarv.sɛːmɪ/

starfsemi f (genitive singular starfsemi, no plural)

1. activity, operations

   Synonym: starfræksla

2. function (how something works, particularly how the brain works)
3. (obsolete) industriousness [19th c.]

   Synonym: vinnusemi

   • 1857, “74. nótt”, in Steingríms Thorsteinssonar, transl., Þúsund og ein nótt‎^[1]:

     Faðir minn er gimsteina-meistari og verzlar með gimsteina og hefur aflað sér mikilla fjármuna með starfsemi sinni og hagleik.

     My father is a gemstone master and trades in gemstones, and has acquired a great deal of money through his industriousness and craftsmanship.

   • 1906, Jón Trausta, chapter 8, in Halla‎^[2]:

     Alls staðar var endurfætt líf, gleði, kæti og starfsemi og byltingagirni.

     Everywhere there was reborn life, joy, delight, industriousness and revolution.

   • 1917, “Fundargjörð”, in Hlín: Ársrit sambandsfélags norðlenskra kvenna, number 1, page 12:

     Beinir [fundurinn] því um leið að foreldrum öllum í sveitum og kaupstöðum að venja börn sín á hlýðni og starfsemi í hvívetna.

     [The meeting] also urges all parents in rural areas and towns to accustom their children to obedience and industriousness in whatsoever.

• atvinnustarfsemi (“commercial operations”)
• glæpastarfsemi (“criminal activity”)
• fjármálastarfsemi (“financial operations”)
• bankastarfsemi (“banking”)
• brotastarfsemi (“criminal activity”)
• hryðjuverkastarfsemi (“terrorist activities”)

• Kristín Bjarnadóttir, editor (2002–2026), “starfsemi”, in Beygingarlýsing íslensks nútímamáls [The Database of Modern Icelandic Inflection] (in Icelandic), Reykjavík: The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies
• “starfsemi” in the Dictionary of Modern Icelandic (in Icelandic) and ISLEX (in the Nordic languages)