employ

em·ploy

Use employ in a sentence

This young woman is employed to care for this child.

noun

The definition of employ is the state of having a job.
An example of employ is working in a school.

verb

Employ is defined as to give someone work for pay, or to put someone or something to use.
1. An example of employ is for a couple to hire a babysitter to watch their children.
2. An example of employ is to put writing skills to use to write a book.

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"employ." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 19 October 2018. <http://www.yourdictionary.com/Employ>.

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employ. (n.d.). Retrieved October 19th, 2018, from http://www.yourdictionary.com/Employ

employ

to make use of; use
to keep busy or occupied; take up the attention, time, etc. of; devote: to employ oneself in study
to provide work and pay for: mining employs fewer men now
to engage the services or labor of for pay; hire

Origin of employ

Middle English emploien from Old French emploier from Classical Latin implicare, to enfold, engage: see imply

the state of being employed, esp. for pay; paid service; employment
Archaic work or occupation

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MLA Style

"employ." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 19 October 2018. <http://www.yourdictionary.com/Employ>.

APA Style

employ. (n.d.). Retrieved October 19th, 2018, from http://www.yourdictionary.com/Employ

employ

transitive verb

em·ployed, em·ploy·ing, em·ploys

a. To provide work to (someone) for pay: agreed to employ the job applicant.
b. To engage the attention or activity of; occupy: employed himself for an hour reading blogs.
To put (something) to use or service: employed a pen to open the package; employed her skills in the new job.
To devote (time, for example) to an activity or purpose: employed several months in learning Swahili.

noun

The state of being employed: in the employ of the city.
Archaic An occupation.

Origin of employ

Middle English emploien from Old French emploier from Latin implicāre to involve in- in ; see en- ¹. plicāre to fold ; see plek- in Indo-European roots.

Related Forms:

em·ploy′a·bil′i·ty
noun

em·ploy′a·ble
adjective

em·ploy′er
noun

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"employ." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 19 October 2018. <http://www.yourdictionary.com/Employ>.

APA Style

employ. (n.d.). Retrieved October 19th, 2018, from http://www.yourdictionary.com/Employ

Noun

(plural employs)

The state of being an employee; employment.
The school district has six thousand teachers in its employ.

Verb

(third-person singular simple present employs, present participle employing, simple past and past participle employed)

To hire (somebody for work or a job).
Yesterday our local garage employed a new mechanic.
To use (somebody for a job, or something for a task).
The burglar employed a jemmy to get in.
To make busy.

Origin

From Middle French employer, from Latin implicare (“to infold, involve, engage”), from in (“in”) + plicare (“to fold”). Compare imply and implicate, which are doublets of employ .

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