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"to employ (give work to)" in seven languages

Meaningto employ (give work to)

Spanish

emplear

/empleˈaɾ/

borrowed · French employer

French

employer

/ɑ̃plwaje/

inherited

Also simply 'to use': employer un mot.

Italian

impiegare

/impjeˈɡare/

inherited

Un impiegato is an office worker.

Portuguese

empregar

/ẽpɾeˈɡah/

inherited

Latin pl became pr and c became g: IMPLICĀRE → empregar.

Romanian

angaja

/anɡaˈʒa/

other source · French engager

Catalan

donar feina

/duˈna ˈfejnə/

other source · donar 'to give' (Latin DŌNĀRE) + feina 'work' (Latin FACIENDA 'things to be done')

English

employ

/ɪmˈplɔɪ/

from Latin/French · Old French emploier

English → Italianto employ (give work to)impiegareCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

IMPLICĀRE‘to enfold, involve’

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

The story

IMPLICĀRE 'to fold in, engage' came to mean 'to put to use'. Italian shows its own pl → pi (impiegare); Spanish took emplear from French. English imply and implicate come from the same verb.

English relatives: employee, employment, implicate, imply

Sound laws at work

French vowel + nasal becomes a nasal vowel

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In a sentence

  • esLa fábrica emplea a doscientas personas.
  • frL'usine emploie deux cents personnes.
  • itLa fabbrica impiega duecento persone.
  • ptA fábrica emprega duzentas pessoas.
  • roFabrica are două sute de angajați.
  • caLa fàbrica dona feina a dues-centes persones.
  • enThe factory employs two hundred people.

More words from the same Latin

More in Work & money

All Work & money words