The word "workest" is a verb that is derived from the Old English word "wyrcean" which means "to work". The spelling may seem odd to some readers as it does not follow the usual pattern of adding "-ed" at the end of a verb to indicate the past tense. Instead, the "-est" ending indicates the second person singular present tense. The IPA phonetic transcription of "workest" is /ˈwərkɪst/, where the stress falls on the first syllable "work" and the "est" ending is pronounced as "ist".
The word workest is the second-person singular form of the verb work in the present tense. Its etymology can be traced back to the Old English word wyrcan, which means to perform, do, make. Over time, this term evolved into Middle English and took on the form werken, which eventually became the modern English word work.