Etymologically
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employment

Etymology and origin of the English word employment

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
mid-15th century

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɪmˈplɔɪ.mənt/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English employement,[2] formed from emploien, employ, and the suffix -ment.[3][2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The spending of money: the mid-15th century in Etymonline.[3] The action of employing, or the state of being employed: late Middle English in SOED,[4] 1598 in the OED.[5]

Semantic evolution

The service of another person, as in Shakespeare's at your employment, was used from 1595 but is obsolete.[5][4] An errand or commission, and that on which one is employed, are from the 1590s,[3][5] and a person's regular occupation or trade from the 1640s.[3][5] An official post in the public service was so called in the 17th century.[5] Employment agency and similar compounds are from 1886,[5] and full employment, a state in which everyone who wants a job can get one, is later.[4]

Timeline

  • mid-15th century – the spending of money.[3]
  • 1590s – an errand, a commission.[3]
  • 1598 – the state of being employed.[5]
  • 1640s – a regular occupation.[3]
  • 1886 – employment agency.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The state of having paid work.
  2. A person's work or occupation.
  3. The number or percentage of people in paid work.
  4. The act of employing or using something.

Word family

  • nonemployment
  • preemployment
  • reemployment
  • subemployment
  • overemployment
  • self-employment
  • underemployment
  • employment agency
  • employ
  • employable
  • employee
  • employer
  • unemployment
  • imply

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

“Employment.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/employment. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·