Means of labor
The means of labor is a concept in Marxist political economy that refers to "all those things with the aid of which man acts upon the subject of his labor, and transforms it." Means of labor include tools, machinery, buildings and land used for production, and infrastructure such as roads, telecommunications networks, and so forth. Labor, itself, defines "work, especially hard physical work."
The means of labor are one of three basic factors of production, along with human labor and the subject of labor.
The means of labor and the subject of labor comprise the means of production of society.
In some formulations, the means of labor and human labor comprise the productive forces of society. Other formulations define productive forces more narrowly as the union of instruments of production and the laborers who wield them, thereby excluding invested capital.