apprentice

[ uh-pren-tis ]

noun

1. a person who works for another in order to learn a trade:

   an apprentice to a plumber.

2. History/Historical. a person legally bound through indenture to a master craftsman in order to learn a trade.
3. a learner; novice; tyro.
4. U.S. Navy. an enlisted person receiving specialized training.
5. a jockey with less than one year's experience who has won fewer than 40 races.

verb (used with object)

, ap·pren·ticed, ap·pren·tic·ing.

1. to bind to or place with an employer, master craftsman, or the like, for instruction in a trade.

verb (used without object)

, ap·pren·ticed, ap·pren·tic·ing.

1. to serve as an apprentice:

   He apprenticed for 14 years under a master silversmith.

apprentice

/ əˈprɛntɪs /

noun

1. someone who works for a skilled or qualified person in order to learn a trade or profession, esp for a recognized period
2. any beginner or novice

verb

1. tr to take, place, or bind as an apprentice

Derived Forms

• apˈprenticeˌship, noun

Other Words From

• ap·pren·tice·ship noun
• un·ap·pren·ticed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of apprentice¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English ap(p)rentis, from Anglo-French, Old French ap(p)rentiz, from unattested Vulgar Latin apprenditīcius, equivalent to unattested apprendit(us) (for Latin apprehēnsus; apprehensible ) + Latin -īcius suffix forming adjectives from past participles, here nominalized

Word History and Origins

Origin of apprentice¹

C14: from Old French aprentis, from Old French aprendre to learn, from Latin apprehendere to apprehend

Example Sentences

Holly Walker, an apprentice ski guide with the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides and a former ski patroller at Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort, opts to wear her device in-bounds, too.

From Outside Online

Master artists taught apprentices “how to draw, make the composition and pose the colors.”

From Washington Post

For instance, wage subsidies would enable employers to take on the risk of hiring apprentices, a practice that used to be common but is now rare in the United States.

From MIT Technology Review

Easily the story’s most fascinating character, Lydia has plenty to say about fate but thrives by imposing her will on others—including Anna, whom she manipulates into becoming her apprentice.

From Time

Without being overbearing or assertive, Gerace had gently taken us under his wing for our full education, both within science and without, as the master painters did with their apprentices in the 17th and 18th centuries.

From Nautilus

Whatever the excuse, in 2008 we were all subjected to Celebrity Apprentice.

From The Daily Beast

Cocker, for his part, worked briefly as an apprentice gasfitter but decided to take the plunge into the world of commercial music.

From The Daily Beast

The former apprentice engineer retained a lifelong interest in the way things worked.

From The Daily Beast

Now, the onetime Lloyd Kaufman/Troma apprentice is the toast of Tinseltown.

From The Daily Beast

At one point, the host of Celebrity Apprentice that Tea Partiers need to stop supporting doomed candidates.

From The Daily Beast

The young apprentice was of middle height, very well built, amazingly active, and able to bear the utmost fatigue.

From Project Gutenberg

If she lasts a couple of hours, I shall be surprised, said the apothecarys apprentice, intent upon the toothpicks point.

From Project Gutenberg

He was an apprentice to a wig and curl maker, when Whitefield attracted his attention, and he became a methodist preacher.

From Project Gutenberg

Shortly after this the youngest apprentice went below, and found the ill-used lad standing on a locker, and gibbering fearfully.

From Project Gutenberg

An apprentice who is qualifying himself to operate an elevator is an employee within the Minnesota Act.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• pupil