Etymologically
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employee

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 00:25. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɪmˈplɔɪ.iː/, /ˌem.plɔɪˈiː/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English employ + -ee,[2][3] on the model of French employé, the past participle of employer “to employ”,[2][4] from Old French empleier, emploiier.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who works for an employer: 1814 in MWU,[4] 1850 in Etymonline, mainly in American use,[2] and the mid-19th century in the Shorter Oxford.[3]

Semantic evolution

It took over from the French form employé.[5][3] In the United States it was often written employe in the early 20th century.[5] A nonce use for something employed is from 1850.[5]

Timeline

  • 1814 – a person employed.[4]
  • 1850 – common in American use.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A person who is paid to work for another person or a company.

Word family

  • proemployee

Usage notes

British English stresses either the second syllable or the last, while American English stresses the second.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press