employ

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪmˈplɔɪ/, /emˈplɔɪ/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French employer, emploier, from Old French empleier,^[2][3][4] from Latin implicāre, to enfold, involve, be connected with,^[2][3][5] or its passive implicārī, to be involved in,^[4][6] from in-, in, and plicāre, to fold (see ply).^[2][3] implicate and imply are doublets.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To devote or apply something to a purpose: probably before 1425;^[2] to make use of, 1429;^[2] the early 15th century in Etymonline.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The sense to use the services of a person, to hire, is first recorded in 1584,^[2][3] from the meaning “involve in a particular purpose”, which arose in Late Latin.^[3] The NODE notes that the word was also spelled imploy in the 16th and 17th centuries.^[6] The noun, the act of employing, is from 1666, in Evelyn's Memoirs, from French emploi,^[2][3][7] and the state of being employed (in the employ of) from 1709.^[3][7] Employer is from 1599, in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, and employee from 1850.^[2]

Timeline

• before 1425 – to devote to a purpose.^[2]
• 1584 – to hire a person.^[2]
• 1599 – employer.^[2]
• 1666 – employ (noun).^[2]
• 1709 – in the employ of.^[3][7]
• 1850 – employee.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To give work to someone for pay; to hire.
2. To make use of: to employ new methods.
3. To occupy or spend time on an activity.

Noun

1. in the employ of: employed by.

Word family

• employability
• employable
• employer
• nonemploying
• overemploy
• preemploy
• employment
• reemploy

Related words

• imply
• implicate
• apply
• employee
• ply

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 g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press