employer

English

Alternative forms

• imployer (obsolete)

Etymology

From employ +‎ -er, first attested in the late 16th century. 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.

Derived terms

• employerly

Related terms

• employ
• employee
• employment

Translations

person or entity which employs others

• Afrikaans: werkgewer
• Albanian: punëdhënës (sq) m, punëdhënëse f
• Arabic: رَبّ عَمَل m (rabb ʕamal), رَبَّة عَمَل f (rabbat ʕamal), صَاحِب عَمَل m (ṣāḥib ʕamal), صَاحِبَة عَمَل f (ṣāḥibat ʕamal), مُسْتَخْدِم m (mustaḵdim), مُسْتَخْدِمَة f (mustaḵdima)
• Armenian: գործատու (hy) (gorcatu)
• Azerbaijani: işverən, işəgötürən (az)
• Bashkir: эш биреүсе (eş birewse)
• Belarusian: работада́вец m (rabotadávjec), работада́ўца m (rabotadáŭca), працанайма́льнік m (pracanajmálʹnik)
• Bulgarian: работода́тел (bg) m (rabotodátel), работода́телка f (rabotodátelka)
• Burmese: အလုပ်ရှင် (my) (a.luphrang)
• Chechen: болхлург (bolxlurg)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 雇主 (gùzhǔ)

• Chuvash: ӗҫе илекен (ĕś̬e ilek̬en)
• Czech: zaměstnavatel (cs) m, zaměstnavatelka f
• Danish: arbejdsgiver (da) c
• Dutch: werkgever (nl) m
• Esperanto: dunganto, labordonanto
• Estonian: tööandja
• Finnish: työnantaja (fi)
• French: employeur (fr) m, employeuse (fr) f
• Georgian: დამქირავებლი (damkiravebli), სამუშაოს მიმცემი (samušaos mimcemi), დამსაქმებელი (damsakmebeli)
• German: Arbeitgeber (de) m, Arbeitgeberin (de) f
• Greek: εργοδότης (el) m (ergodótis), εργοδότρια (el) f (ergodótria)

  Ancient Greek: ἐργοδότης m (ergodótēs)

• Hebrew: מַעֲסִיק m (ma'asík), מַעֲבִיד m (ma'avíd)
• Hindi: नियोक्ता (hi) m (niyoktā), मालिक (hi) m (mālik), नियोजक (hi) m (niyojak)
• Hungarian: munkaadó (hu), munkáltató (hu)
• Icelandic: vinnuveitandi m, atvinnuveitandi m, launagreiðandi m
• Ido: employanto (io)
• Irish: fostóir m
• Italian: datore di lavoro (it) m, datrice di lavoro f
• Japanese: 雇用者 (こようしゃ, koyōsha)
• Kazakh: жұмыс беруші (jūmys beruşı)
• Khmer: និយោជក (km) (niyoocŭək)
• Korean: 고용주(雇用主) (ko) (goyongju)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: karsaz (ku), xwedankar (ku), karmend (ku)

• Kyrgyz: иш берүүчү (iş berüücü), иштетүүчү (iştetüücü)
• Lao: ນາຍຈ້າງ (nāi chāng)
• Latvian: darba devējs m
• Lithuanian: darbdavys (lt) m, darbdavė f
• Macedonian: работодавач m (rabotodavač), работодавачка f (rabotodavačka), работодавец m (rabotodavec)
• Malay: majikan
• Maori: kaiwhakamahi
• Marathi: नियोक्ता m (niyoktā), मालक m (mālak)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: ажил олгогч (mn) (ažil olgogč)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: arbeidsgiver m

  Nynorsk: arbeidsgjevar m, arbeidsgivar m

• Pashto: کارفرما (ps) m (kārfarmā)
• Persian: کارفرما (fa) (kârfarmâ), صاحب‌کار (fa) (sâheb-kâr)
• Plautdietsch: Ieejendeema m
• Polish: pracodawca (pl) m, pracodawczyni (pl) f
• Portuguese: empregador (pt) m, empregadora f
• Romanian: angajator m, angajatoare f
• Russian: работода́тель (ru) m (rabotodátelʹ), работода́тельница (ru) f (rabotodátelʹnica), нанима́тель (ru) m (nanimátelʹ), нанима́тельница (ru) f (nanimátelʹnica)
• Scottish Gaelic: fastaidhear m, fastaiche m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: послода́вац m, посло̀да̄вка f

  Roman: poslodávac (sh) m, poslòdāvka (sh) f

• Slovak: zamestnávateľ m, zamestnávateľka f
• Slovene: delodajalec (sl) m, delodajalka f
• Spanish: empleador (es) m, empleadora (es) f
• Swahili: mwajiri (sw)
• Swedish: arbetsgivare (sv) c
• Tajik: корфармо (korfarmo), соҳибкор (sohibkor)
• Tatar: эш бирүче (eş birüçe)
• Thai: นายจ้าง (th) (naai-jâang)
• Turkish: işveren (tr)
• Ukrainian: роботода́вець m (robotodávecʹ), роботода́виця f (robotodávycja)
• Urdu: آجِر (ur) m (ājir), مالِک m (mālik)
• Uyghur: ياللىغۇچى (yallighuchi), خوجايىن (xojayin)
• Uzbek: ish beruvchi, xoʻjayin (uz), sohibkor (uz)
• Vietnamese: chủ (vi), cai thầu (vi), chủ lao động
• Volapük: vobükan m or f, hivobükan m, jivobükan f
• Welsh: cyflogwr (cy) m
• Yiddish: באַשעפֿטיקער m (basheftiker)

See also

• jobseeker

Anagrams

• polyreme, re-employ, reemploy, reëmploy

French

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

Conjugation

This verb is part of a large group of -er verbs that conjugate like noyer or ennuyer. These verbs always replace the 'y' with an 'i' before a silent 'e'.

Conjugation of employer (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	employer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	employant /ɑ̃.plwa.jɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		employé /ɑ̃.plwa.je/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	emploie /ɑ̃.plwa/	emploies /ɑ̃.plwa/	emploie /ɑ̃.plwa/	employons /ɑ̃.plwa.jɔ̃/	employez /ɑ̃.plwa.je/	emploient /ɑ̃.plwa/
	imperfect	employais /ɑ̃.plwa.jɛ/	employais /ɑ̃.plwa.jɛ/	employait /ɑ̃.plwa.jɛ/	employions /ɑ̃.plwaj.jɔ̃/	employiez /ɑ̃.plwaj.je/	employaient /ɑ̃.plwa.jɛ/
	past historic2	employai /ɑ̃.plwa.je/	employas /ɑ̃.plwa.ja/	employa /ɑ̃.plwa.ja/	employâmes /ɑ̃.plwa.jam/	employâtes /ɑ̃.plwa.jat/	employèrent /ɑ̃.plwa.jɛʁ/
	future	emploierai /ɑ̃.plwa.ʁe/	emploieras /ɑ̃.plwa.ʁa/	emploiera /ɑ̃.plwa.ʁa/	emploierons /ɑ̃.plwa.ʁɔ̃/	emploierez /ɑ̃.plwa.ʁe/	emploieront /ɑ̃.plwa.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	emploierais /ɑ̃.plwa.ʁɛ/	emploierais /ɑ̃.plwa.ʁɛ/	emploierait /ɑ̃.plwa.ʁɛ/	emploierions /ɑ̃.plwa.ʁjɔ̃/	emploieriez /ɑ̃.plwa.ʁje/	emploieraient /ɑ̃.plwa.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	emploie /ɑ̃.plwa/	emploies /ɑ̃.plwa/	emploie /ɑ̃.plwa/	employions /ɑ̃.plwaj.jɔ̃/	employiez /ɑ̃.plwaj.je/	emploient /ɑ̃.plwa/
	imperfect2	employasse /ɑ̃.plwa.jas/	employasses /ɑ̃.plwa.jas/	employât /ɑ̃.plwa.ja/	employassions /ɑ̃.plwa.ja.sjɔ̃/	employassiez /ɑ̃.plwa.ja.sje/	employassent /ɑ̃.plwa.jas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	emploie /ɑ̃.plwa/	—	employons /ɑ̃.plwa.jɔ̃/	employez /ɑ̃.plwa.je/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• employer la manière forte
• employer les grands moyens

Related terms

• emploi
• employable
• employé
• employeur

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• polymère

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French emploier, emploiier.

Verb

employer

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

Conjugation

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Conjugation of employer

infinitive	simple	employer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	employant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		employé
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	employe	employes	employe	employons	employez	employent
	imperfect	employois, employoys	employois, employoys	employoit, employoyt	employions, employyons	employiez, employyez	employoient, employoyent
	past historic	employa	employas	employa	employasmes	employastes	employerent
	future	employerai, employeray	employeras	employera	employerons	employerez	employeront
	conditional	employerois, employeroys	employerois, employeroys	employeroit, employeroyt	employerions, employeryons	employeriez, employeryez	employeroient, employeroyent
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que ie (i’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	employe	employes	employe	employons	employez	employent
	imperfect	employasse	employasses	employast	employassions	employassiez	employassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	employe	—	employons	employez	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).

Descendants

• French: employer