apply

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈplaɪ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English aplien, applien,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French aplier, aploiier,^[4][2] from Latin applicāre (“to attach, join; to devote oneself”),^[4][2] from ad- (“to”) and plicāre (“to fold”),^[4][2] from Proto-Indo-European *plek- (“to plait”).^[4] The double p follows the Latin spelling.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To join to, attach, adhere: about 1374 in Chaucer's translation of Boethius,^[5] about 1380 in Barnhart.^[2] The etymological sense is “to bring things into contact”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

To bring into close contact is from 1382,^[5] and “to use or employ for a purpose” from about 1400.^[4] Of plasters or lotions, “to put on the body”, and of the mind, “to put to work at a task”, it is from the early 15th century.^[4] To put to a special use is from about 1460,^[5] and figuratively, “to bring to bear on”, from 1596.^[5] The sense “to be relevant”, as in the rule applies to everyone, is in the AHD.^[6] “To make a formal request, as for a job” is from 1851.^[4] A by-form applicate is recorded from the 1530s.^[4] Appliance is from the 16th century.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1374 – to join, adhere.^[5]
• 1382 – to put in contact.^[5]
• c. 1400 – to use for a purpose.^[4]
• early 15th century – to put on the body; to apply oneself.^[4]
• 16th century – appliance.^[7]
• 1596 – to bring to bear on.^[5]
• 1851 – to seek a job.^[4]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To put on or spread on: apply the cream.
2. To put to use; to use for a purpose.
3. To be relevant or pertinent: the rule applies to all.
4. To make a formal request, as for a job or a place.
5. To give one's full attention: apply yourself.

Word family

• applier
• appliable
• appliableness
• appliably
• applicatory
• misapply
• application
• appliance

Related words

• applicant
• ply
• complicate
• implicate
• employ

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press