English Online Dictionary. What means employ? What does employ mean?
English
Alternative forms
- imploy (obsolete)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɪmˈplɔɪ/, /ɛmˈplɔɪ/
- Rhymes: -ɔɪ
Etymology 1
From late Middle English emploien, imploien, emplien (“to apply to a specific purpose”), from Anglo-Norman emploier, Old French emploiier (“to entangle, fabricate, to make use of”), ultimately from Latin implicāre (“to infold, entangle, involve, engage”), from in- (“in”) + plicāre (“to fold”). Doublet of imply and implicate.
Verb
employ (third-person singular simple present employs, present participle employing, simple past and past participle employed)
- To retain (someone) as an employee.
- 1668 July 3rd, James Dalrymple, “Thomas Rue contra Andrew Houſtoun” in The Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683), page 547
- Andrew Houſtoun and Adam Muſhet, being Tackſmen of the Excize, did Imploy Thomas Rue to be their Collector, and gave him a Sallary of 30. pound Sterling for a year.
- 1668 July 3rd, James Dalrymple, “Thomas Rue contra Andrew Houſtoun” in The Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683), page 547
- (rare) To provide (someone) with a new job; to hire.
- To use (someone or something) for a job or task.
- Synonyms: apply, use, utilize
- To make busy; to preoccupy.
- Synonyms: occupy, busy
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
Etymology 2
Borrowed from French emploi (“job, employment”), the deverbal from employer (“to put to use, to employ”), first attested in the late 17th century.
Noun
employ (plural employs)
- The state of being an employee; employment.
- (archaic) An occupation.
- (obsolete) The act of employing someone or making use of something; employment.
Derived terms
Translations
References
Further reading
- “employ”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “employ”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “employ”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Anagrams
- polemy