employé

Forms

employé m (plural employés, feminine employée)^[1]

Etymology

It is the past participle from French employer, used as a noun.^[2][3][4][5] The verb is emploier, from Latin implicō (“to fold in, entangle, engage”), formed from in- and plicō (“to fold”);^[2][6][1] impliquer is a later learned borrowing of the same Latin verb.^[2][1]

The English word employee (1850) was formed on the model of the French word.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun is first recorded in 1723 in Savary des Bruslons's Dictionnaire universel de commerce, for a person holding a post.^[2][4][6]

Semantic evolution

It names a salaried worker in commerce, administration or industry whose work is mental rather than manual, and so is opposed to ouvrier; the GLLF dates the sense “office worker” to 1784.^[6][4][2] The official name employé(e) de maison has replaced domestique for household staff.^[6][4] Balzac's novel Les Employés (1837) is cited by the Académie.^[5]

Timeline

• 1723 – Savary des Bruslons records the noun.^[2][4]
• 1784 – The sense “office worker” is recorded.^[4]
• 1837 – Balzac publishes Les Employés.^[5]
• 1850 – English forms employee on its model.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. An employee, a person who holds a job working for someone else.^[4][1]
2. A salaried worker doing mainly non-manual work without a managing role, as opposed to a worker or a manager: employé de banque, employé de bureau.^[8][9]
3. Employé(e) de maison: a household servant, a domestique.^[8][6]

Related words

• employer
• emploi
• employeur
• impliquer
• Latin implicō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
6. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)