employee

American  

[em-ploi-ee, em-ploi-ee] / ɛmˈplɔɪ i, ˌɛm plɔɪˈi /

Rarely employe,

noun

1. a person working for another person or a business firm for pay.

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employee British  

/ ˌɛmplɔɪˈiː, ɛmˈplɔɪiː /

noun

1. Also called (esp formerly): employé.  a person who is hired to work for another or for a business, firm, etc, in return for payment

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Usage

What does employee mean? An employee is someone who gets paid to work for a person or company. Workers don’t need to work full time to be considered employees—they simply need to be paid to work by an employer (the person or business that pays them). The term employee is sometimes used to distinguish contract workers from full employees (who often earn additional benefits), but in this example, both types of workers are considered employees in the general sense. Example: My company has more than 500 employees.

Other Word Forms

• preemployee noun
• proemployee adjective

Etymology

Origin of employee

First recorded in 1825–35; from French employé “employed,” past participle of employer to employ; see -ee

Explanation

An employee is someone who's hired to do a particular job for pay. If you like to shop in a certain store, you might also enjoy being an employee there. You can see the verb employ, meaning "put to use," in employee. You can employ a pen in writing a letter, just as a grocery store might employ workers to collect the shopping carts from the parking lot. A person who is put to work is an employee. Employee implies that the worker reports to a boss, and it's most commonly used for non-executives who work for a salary.

Example Sentences

The internal memo on the tracking software said the company will explore more ways to use employee workflows and data to build better AI in the future.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

The Treasury canceled $21 million in contracts with Booz Allen after an employee leaked tax returns to news reporters.

From Barron's • Apr. 22, 2026

The company has implemented a series of layoffs and employee reorganizations in stores.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026

Hencely had tried to stop and question Ahmad Nayeb, an Afghan employee, as he walked toward soldiers who had gathered for a Veteran’s Day 5K race in 2016.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026

Thankfully, a Bean Heaven employee with long blond dreadlocks inserts himself into our awkward little tableau with a big plate of scones, jam, and thick cream.

From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan

Related Words

• agent
• attendant
• clerk
• laborer
• member
• operator
• representative
• staff member
• worker