apprentice Hear it!

apprentice Definition

ap·pren·tice (ə prentis)

noun

  1. a person under legal agreement to work a specified length of time for a master craftsman in a craft or trade in return for instruction and, formerly, support
  2. a person who is acquiring a trade, craft, or skill under specified conditions, usually as a member of a labor union
  3. any learner or beginner; novice

Etymology: ME aprentis < OFr aprentiz < aprendre, learn < L apprehendere, apprehend

transitive verb -·ticed, -·tic·ing

to place or accept as an apprentice

intransitive verb

to work or train as an apprentice

apprentice Related Forms
ap·pren·tice·ship′ noun
apprentice Synonyms

apprentice

n.

apprentice Usage Examples

Possessives

  • sorcerer: Chirac played the sorcerer's apprentice by making the main axis of his campaign law and order, a longstanding theme of the FN.

Converse of object

  • indenture: So at the age of fifteen, he signed up with his father's approval as an indentured apprentice onboard the " Oneida " .
  • bind: Children are generally bound apprentices at 9 or 10.
  • recruit: Alternatively, GRAHAM Training can recruit a modern apprentice on behalf of an organization.
  • employ: Employed apprentices over 19 who have completed the first year of their apprenticeship must be paid the national minimum wage.
  • train: The Royal School trains eight Apprentices a year with two overseas students per intake.
  • become: Caroline Benton has notched up a first for Southern Water by becoming the first female apprentice to qualify.

Adjective modifier

  • former: He says Poeton can also point to a large proportion of jobs at all levels within the company that are filled by former apprentices.
  • modern: I'm aged between 16 & 25 can I become a modern apprentice?
  • young: He has spent over thirty years with the company, rising through the ranks from a young apprentice to becoming managing director.
  • female: Caroline Benton has notched up a first for Southern Water by becoming the first female apprentice to qualify.
  • old: He lived there with his 13 year old apprentice Andrew Morton, originally from Louth.

Modifies a noun

  • joiner: Ian joined the company 23 years ago as an apprentice joiner.
  • fitter: Ossie began his working career as an apprentice aircraft fitter with British Aerospace.
  • electrician: Maurice Bailey began work there as an apprentice electrician in 1942.
  • carpenter: I started work in 1959 as an apprentice carpenter and joiner, had excellent training with quality tradesmen and a wide range of contract.
  • plumber: On leaving school he spent 4 years as an apprentice plumber.
  • mechanic: Wise, who is an apprentice mechanic, narrowly escaped custody when he appeared before Carlisle magistrates.

Noun used with modifier

  • engineering: The company is also the largest employer of engineering apprentices in the UK.
  • craft: She started at BAE Systems as a craft apprentice and rapidly moved to become a skilled flight test engineer on Eurofighter Typhoon aircrafts.
apprentice Quotes

Here I must say, in my eighty-sixth year, I do not feel greatly different from when I was eighty-five. This is my final word. It is time for me to become an apprentice once more. I have not settled in which direction. But somewhere, sometime soon.

—Baron