employer

Alternative forms

• imployer (obsolete)

Etymology

From employ +‎ -er, first attested in the late 16th century.^[1] Compare French employeur.

Pronunciation

• (General American) enPR: ĭm-ploiʹər, ĕm-ploiʹər, IPA^(key): /ɪmˈplɔɪ.ɚ/, /ɛmˈplɔɪ.ɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪmˈplɔɪə/, /ɛmˈplɔɪə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ɪmˈplɔɪə/, /ɛmˈplɔɪə/, /ɛmplɔɪˈə/
• Rhymes: -ɔɪ.ə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: em‧ploy‧er

Noun

employer (plural employers)

1. A person, firm or other entity which pays for or hires the services of another person.
   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter X, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     The skipper Mr. Cooke had hired at Far Harbor was a God-fearing man with a luke warm interest in his new billet and employer, and had only been prevailed upon to take charge of the yacht after the offer of an emolument equal to half a year's sea pay of an ensign in the navy.

   • 1973, E. F. Schumacher, Small is Beautiful:

     the ideal from the point of view of the employer is to have output without employees, and the ideal from the point of view of the employee is to have income without employment.

See also

• jobseeker

References

Anagrams

• polyreme, re-employ, reemploy, reëmploy

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French employer, from Old French emploier, emploiier, inherited from Latin implicāre. Doublet of impliquer, a borrowing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.plwa.je/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

employer

1. (transitive) to use (a physical thing)

   Synonyms: se servir de, utiliser

2. (transitive) to use (an abstract)

   On emploie cet adjectif pour décrire des choses.

   This adjective is used to describe things.

3. (passive pronominal) to be used
4. (transitive) to employ (a person)
   • 2005, Philippe Chassaigne, Ville et violence : tensions et conflits dans la Grande-Bretagne victorienne, page 37

     Les terrassiers étaient aussi employés à construire des maisons […]

     The navvies were also employed to build houses […]

5. (passive pronominal) to be employed

Further reading

• “employer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• polymère

Etymology

From Old French emploier, emploiier.

Verb

employer

1. to employ; to use; to make use of