Employee

/ɪmˈplɔɪ.iː/

nounBeginner🔥Very CommonPeople
1 meaning1 idiom/phrase2 questions

Definitions

1

A person who is hired to work for a company or another person for a salary or wage.

/ɪmˈplɔɪ.iː/

nounneutralBeginner
People

A person employed for wages or salary, especially at a non-executive level.

The company recognized its top-performing employee with a bonus.

💡 Simply: Imagine you're working at a lemonade stand, and the person running the stand pays you. You're an employee! Employees work for a company or boss and get paid.

👶 For kids: A person who works at a job and gets paid money.

More Examples

2

All employees are required to attend the annual safety training.

3

New employee orientation will be held next Monday.

How It's Used

Business

"The company offers excellent benefits to its employees."

Human Resources

"The HR department handles employee onboarding and training."

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

Antonyms

Idioms & expressions

Employee of the Month

An award or recognition given to an employee for their outstanding performance in a month.

"Sarah was proud to be named Employee of the Month."

From Middle French *employé*, past participle of *employer* 'to employ', from Old French *emplier* 'to entangle, employ', from Latin *implicare* 'to enfold, involve'.

The word "employee" became increasingly common during the Industrial Revolution, reflecting the growth of businesses and the rise of wage labor.

Memory tip

Think of a person who is EMPLOYED by a company.

Word Origin

LanguageMiddle French & Old French, Latin
Original meaning

"to put into work, to involve"

new employeeloyal employeevalued employeesalaried employeepart-time employee

Common misspellings

employeemployieemploee

Usage

60%Spoken
40%Written