Etymology

hireling

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Today it means: An employee who is hired, often to perform unpleasant tasks with little independence. Full definition →

Middle English hirlyng ← Old English hȳrling ← Proto-West Germanic *hūʀijuling
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The story

  1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*hūʀijuling
  2. Old English · inherited fromhȳrling“hireling, employee”
  3. Middle English · inherited fromhirlyng
  4. English todayhireling

From Middle English hirlyng, from Old English hȳrling (“hireling, employee”), from Proto-West Germanic *hūʀijuling. Cognate with West Frisian hierling, Dutch huurling (“hireling, mercenary”), German Low German Hüürling, German Heuerling. By surface analysis, hire + -ling.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.