career

English Online Dictionary. What means career‎? What does career mean?

English

Etymology

Mid 16th century, from French carrière (“road; racecourse”), from Italian carriera, from Old Occitan carreira, from Late Latin carrāria based on Latin carrus (“wheeled vehicle”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥sós, from *ḱers- (“to run”); alternatively, from Middle French carriere, from Old Occitan.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /kəˈɹɪɹ/, IPA^(key): /kəˈɹɪ.ɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kəˈɹɪə/
• Homophones: chorea, Korea (in fast non-rhotic speech)
• Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)

Noun

career (plural careers)

1. One’s calling in life; a person’s occupation; one’s profession.
2. General course of action or conduct in life, or in a particular part of it.

3. (archaic) Speed.
4. A jouster's path during a joust.
5. (obsolete) A short gallop of a horse. [16th–18th c.]
   • 1756, William Guthrie (translator), Of Eloquence (originally by Quintillian):

     Such littleness damps the heat, and weakens the force of genius; as we check a horse in his career, and rein him in when we want him to amble

6. (falconry) The flight of a hawk.
7. (obsolete) A racecourse; the ground run over.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

career (third-person singular simple present careers, present participle careering, simple past and past participle careered)

1. To move rapidly straight ahead, especially in an uncontrolled way.

   Synonym: careen

Translations

Adjective

career (not comparable)

1. Doing something professionally, for a living (generally said of something that is not a commonplace job, e.g. criminal activity).
2. (loosely) Synonym of serial (“doing something regularly”).

Further reading

• "career" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 52.

Scots

Etymology

From English career.

Noun

career (plural careers)

1. career