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"employee" in seven languages

Meaningemployee

Spanish

empleado

/empleˈado/

masc.borrowed · French employer

French

employé

/ɑ̃plwaje/

masc.inherited

Italian

impiegato

/impjeˈgato/

masc.inherited

Mostly an office worker; dipendente is the general word for anyone on a payroll.

Portuguese

funcionário

/fũsjoˈnaɾju/

masc.other source · função 'function' (Latin FUNCTIŌNEM) + -ário

Empregado, from IMPLICĀRE like Spanish empleado, also exists; empregada is often a housemaid.

Romanian

angajat

/angaˈʒat/

masc.other source · angaja 'to hire', from French engager

Catalan

empleat

/əmpleˈat/

masc.borrowed · Spanish empleado (or French employé)

The inherited Catalan verb from IMPLICĀRE is emprar 'to use'; treballador 'worker' is also common.

English

employee

/ɪmˈplɔɪi/

from Latin/French · French employé

English → ItalianemployeeimpiegatoCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

IMPLICĀRE‘to fold in, entwine’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

To employ someone was to 'fold them in'. French wore IMPLICĀRE down to employer and Spanish borrowed it; Italian made its own pl → pi (impiegare). English imply is the same verb by another road.

English relatives: employ, imply, implicate

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In a sentence

  • esLa empresa tiene cincuenta empleados.
  • frL'entreprise compte cinquante employés.
  • itL'azienda ha cinquanta impiegati.
  • ptA empresa tem cinquenta funcionários.
  • roFirma are cincizeci de angajați.
  • caL'empresa té cinquanta empleats.
  • enThe company has fifty employees.

More words from the same Latin

More in Work & money

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