Etymologically
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apply

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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
  • 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