Etymograph

English

employ

Employ comes from Anglo-Norman emploier, from Latin implicō ‘to infold, entangle, involve, engage’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to plait, to weave’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-1‘to plait, to weave’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplicō2‘to fold’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimplicō3as implicāre‘to infold, entangle, involve, engage’
  4. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400emploier3
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500emploien3
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598employ3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin plico
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin implico
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English employ
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “Let it not enter in your minde of loue:…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-Wiktionary, Latin plico‘to plait, to weave’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplicōWiktionary, Latin implico‘to fold’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimplicōWiktionary, English employas implicāre‘to infold, entangle, involve, engage’
  4. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400emploierWiktionary, English employ
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500emploienWiktionary, English employ
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598employWiktionary, English employ. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “Let it not enter in your minde of loue:…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to plait, to weave’

complex, fiasco, replication, flax, flack, plexus, flagon, 35 more

through Latin plicō ‘to fold’

apply, display, reply, explicit, exploitation, replica, exploit, imply, complication, deploy, inexplicable, complicate, accomplice, ply, complicity, supple, pliable, supplication, triplicate, explication, pliant, splay, 23 more

through Latin implicō ‘to infold, entangle, involve, engage’

implicit, implicate, 2 more

Another origin of employ

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-‘to plait, to weave’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplicō‘to fold’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimplicōas implicāre‘to entangle, entwine’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400emploier
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600employer‘to employ’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentemployer‘to put to use, to employ’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentemploi‘job, employment’
  8. Englishtodayemploy

Borrowed from French emploi (‘job, employment’), the deverbal from employer (‘to put to use, to employ’), first attested in the late 17th century.

Today it means

verb To retain (someone) as an employee.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “employ”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin plico, Latin implico. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- / employ

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