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employ

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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

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