employment English · revision 4478

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=mid-15th century}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɪmˈplɔɪ.mənt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English employement,^(MWU 2024) formed from emploien, [[employ]], and the suffix [[-ment]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The spending of money: the mid-15th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The action of employing, or the state of being employed: late Middle English in SOED,^(SOED 2002) 1598 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The service of another person, as in Shakespeare's ''at your employment'', was used from 1595 but is obsolete.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002) An errand or commission, and that on which one is employed, are from the 1590s,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and a person's regular occupation or trade from the 1640s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) An official post in the public service was so called in the 17th century.^(OED 1989) ''Employment agency'' and similar compounds are from 1886,^(OED 1989) and ''full employment'', a state in which everyone who wants a job can get one, is later.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * mid-15th century – the spending of money.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1590s – an errand, a commission.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1598 – the state of being employed.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1640s – a regular occupation.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1886 – ''employment agency''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The state of having paid [[work]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A person's work or [[occupation]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The number or percentage of people in paid work.^(AHD)

+ # The act of employing or using something.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nonemployment]]

+ * [[preemployment]]

+ * [[reemployment]]

+ * [[subemployment]]

+ * [[overemployment]]

+ * [[self-employment]]

+ * [[underemployment]]

+ * [[employment agency]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[employ]]

+ * [[employable]]

+ * [[employee]]

+ * [[employer]]

+ * [[unemployment]]

+ * [[imply]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}