employ
- 01 A2 Elementary
v.to pay someone to work for you or your company.
v.to retain someone as an employee in exchange for payment. Transitive — always takes the person or group as a direct object.
Simple“The local factory employs over two hundred people from the nearby village.”
In context“The multinational corporation employs thousands of software engineers across its European offices to maintain its cloud infrastructure.”
UsageOften used in the passive voice to describe a person's job status.
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to use something, such as a skill or a method, for a particular purpose.
v.to make use of a resource, technique, or instrument to achieve a specific goal.
Simple“The builders employed a new technique to finish the roof more quickly.”
In context“The researchers employed a variety of statistical models to ensure the accuracy of their findings before publication.”
UsageCommon in academic and professional writing as a more formal alternative to 'use'.
- 03 C1 Advanced
v.to keep yourself busy with an activity.
v.to occupy or preoccupy someone's time or attention. Often used reflexively.
Simple“She employed herself with gardening while waiting for the news.”
In context“He employed his time in the library, meticulously cataloguing the rare manuscripts that had been neglected for decades.”
- 04 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.the state of being employed by someone.
n.the state of being in someone's service or employment.
Simple“He has been in the company's employ for nearly twenty years.”
In context“The diplomat remained in the government's employ until his retirement, serving in several high-profile international roles.”
SynonymsAntonyms
Usage employing people · currently employ · directly employ
From late Middle English emploien, imploien, emplien (“to apply to a specific purpose”), from Anglo-Norman emploier, Old French emploiier (“to entangle, fabricate, to make use of”), ultimately from Latin implicāre (“to infold, entangle, involve, engage”), from in- (“in”) + plicāre (“to fold”). Doublet of imply and implicate.
Borrowed from French emploi (“job, employment”), the deverbal from employer (“to put to use, to employ”), first attested in the late 17th century.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.