DictionaryAI

employment

noun
im-PLOY-muhnt/ɪmˈplɔɪmənt/

4 meanings of employment

Practice

  1. 1
    jobnoununcountable
    Paid work: the job a person does, or the state of having such a job.

    Her employment as a software engineer requires long hours at a desk.

    He described his employment on the fishing boat as hard but rewarding.

    UsageCommon in find employment, seek employment and be in employment; for one person's post, everyday talk more often says a job.

    Similaroccupation

    Oppositeunemployment

  2. 2
    hiringnoununcountable
    The hiring of a person, or the use of a person or thing for a particular purpose.

    The committee questioned the company's employment of unpaid interns.

    Critics objected to the employment of drones for crowd monitoring.

    UsageUsually the employment of a person or thing, often after a possessive: the company's employment of interns.

  3. 3
    number workingnoununcountable
    The number or percentage of people in a population who are working.

    Employment rose by half a percentage point in the last quarter.

    The employment rate climbed to its highest level in a decade.

    UsageNames a total for a place, so it goes with rise, fall and grow, and with the employment rate.

    Note

    In this statistical sense, employment is a figure for a population or a group within it: it is counted, not lived. Its rate rises and falls by percentage points, and employment gives its name to measures such as the employment rate, also called the employment-to-population ratio.

Less common meaning

  1. 4
    pastimenoundatedcountable
    An activity to which a person devotes time, such as a pastime or pursuit.

    Similarpastime, pursuit, activity

Practice

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Origin

Formed from the verb "employ" plus the suffix "-ment." "Employ" came through Middle French "employer" (from "empleier") from Latin "implicō" ("to enfold, involve, be connected with"), which was built from "in-" plus "plicō" ("to fold").

Checked 7 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

  • Employment is formed from the verb employ plus the suffix -ment. en.wiktionary.org
  • Employ came through Middle French employer, from empleier, ultimately from Latin implicō. en.wiktionary.org
  • Latin implicō means to enfold, involve, or be connected with. en.wiktionary.org
  • Latin implicō is formed from in- plus plicō, meaning to fold. en.wiktionary.org