employ

[ em-ploi ]

verb (used with object)

1. to hire or engage the services of (a person or persons); provide employment for; have or keep in one's service:

   This factory employs thousands of people.

2. to make use of (an instrument, means, etc.); use; apply:

   We employ objective and scientific methods to analyze all management areas.

3. to keep busy or at work; engage the attentions of:

   He employs himself by reading after work.

4. to occupy or devote (time, energies, etc.):

   I employ my spare time in reading. I employ all my energies in writing.

noun

1. employment; service:

   to be in someone's employ.

employ

/ ɪmˈplɔɪ /

verb

1. to engage or make use of the services of (a person) in return for money; hire
2. to provide work or occupation for; keep busy; occupy

   collecting stamps employs a lot of his time

3. to use as a means

   to employ secret measures to get one's ends

noun

1. the state of being employed (esp in the phrase in someone's employ )

Derived Forms

• emˈployable, adjective
• emˌployaˈbility, noun

Other Words From

• non·em·ploy·ing adjective
• o·ver·em·ploy verb (used with object)
• pre·em·ploy verb (used with object)
• re·em·ploy verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of employ¹

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English employen, from Anglo-French, Middle French emploier, ultimately derived from Latin implicāre “to enfold” ( Late Latin: “to engage”); implicate

Word History and Origins

Origin of employ¹

C15: from Old French emploier, from Latin implicāre to entangle, engage, from plicāre to fold

Example Sentences

For example, just 14 states, not including Texas or New York, require child welfare employs and animal control officers to cross-report incidents of ongoing animal cruelty.

From Time

Here “usho” in the employ of Japan’s royal family don traditional garb and use flaming lamps to attract fish at night, each fisherman managing as many as a dozen cormorants at once in a balletic display that attracts a large tourist following.

From Popular-Science

He must be pretty good at his job, for as of 2021, Larry has been in the employ of three prime ministers, David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson, and continues to claw onto his position.

From Ozy

You cannot ask what happened to your gift, but nothing stops you from penning a chatty letter updating him on your life and thanking him for his many kindnesses while in his employ.

From Washington Post

Such is her burgeoning popularity Toomey is looking to employ more instructors to lead her highly personalized exercise classes.

From The Daily Beast

We employ inventory management to help solidify their property and make sure they have a better record of their possessions.

From The Daily Beast

After construction, the pipeline would employ about 50 people, primarily for maintenance.

From The Daily Beast

Some locations even employ chlorine mats that service members are required to wipe their feet on in order to enter.

From The Daily Beast

Some factories do not employ Muslims on the premises who can oversee the process, Nana said.

From The Daily Beast

All this will, doubtless, throw a number of deserving persons out of employ.

From Project Gutenberg

In fact, Frank was the only European in Meerut who would employ the man, whose extraordinary appearance went against him.

From Project Gutenberg

To talk of an excess of labor, or an inability to employ it, in such a country as Ireland, is to insult the general understanding.

From Project Gutenberg

The bank did not employ him to steal, but to perform the ordinary banking duties.

From Project Gutenberg

And if we did that, they would employ their usual treachery and evil methods, as they generally do.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• apply
• engage
• exploit
• handle
• occupy
• operate
• spend
• use
• utilize

More About Employ

What does employ mean?

To employ someone is to pay them to work. An employer employs employees.

The state of being employed is employment.

A more specific use of employ is as a noun meaning employment or service. This sense of the word is almost always used in phrases like in their employ. 

Employ also means to use, as in This task will require you to employ a different skill set.

Less commonly, employ can mean to keep one busy or occupy one, as in During flights I usually employ myself with some knitting. 

Example: My company employs more than 500 people.

Where does employ come from?

The first records of the word employ come from the 1400s. It ultimately derives from the Latin implicāre, meaning “to entangle” or “to engage” (the word engage is sometimes used to mean “to hire” or “to employ”). The words employer and employee came later. In employee, the suffix -ee indicates a person who is the object or beneficiary of employment.

While employees are often seen as the ones getting this benefit—and the benefits that sometimes come with it, such as health insurance—the employee-employer relationship is based on the exchange of work for money. This exchange is often formalized through some kind of contract or employment agreement, and employ is most often used in the context of official situations like this. Sometimes, a person may get paid by a company or person for work, but they may not consider themselves to be employed by that person or company—that is, they don’t consider themselves an employee. Such a person may be a freelancer, and they may consider themselves self-employed.

When employ is used as a general synonym for use, it’s often employed in situations involving the use of something in a specific way or for a specific purpose, as in He’s employing rhetoric to create division.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to employ?

• employed (past tense verb, adjective)
• employer (noun)
• employee (noun)
• employment (noun)
• employable (adjective)

What are some synonyms for employ?

• use
• employment (when employ is used as a noun)

What are some words that share a root or word element with employ? 

 

• self-employed
• unemployed
• underemployed

What are some words that often get used in discussing employ?

 

• business
• company
• job
• pay
• hire
• work
• wages
• paycheck
• labor
• payroll

How is employ used in real life?

Employ is commonly used both in reference to paying someone to work and as another word for use.

Microsoft planning new R&D center in Northern Virginia expected to employ 1,500 people @VTmetroDC @VT_CS https://t.co/vv0joDUiZJ

— Kurt Luther (@kurtluther) May 27, 2020

Group portrait of models employed by the Black Beauty agency (1969) pic.twitter.com/6BgNyv2pYK

— Afroink (@eatingwithgods) June 1, 2020

Mindfulness is the perfect awareness technique to employ when a conflict arises and wreaks havoc on our brains. https://t.co/4jKYMpR9jj

— Harvard Business Review (@HarvardBiz) June 4, 2020

 

 

Try using employ!

Is employ used correctly in the following sentence?

I was in the employ of the same company for my entire career.