Meanings
nounemployee (plural employees)
plural employees · alternative dated employe · alternative dated employé
- A person who provides labor to a company or another person.
One way to encourage your employees to work harder is by giving them incentives.
2 more examples
No one, however, would have anything to do with him, as Mr. Keeson's orders in those respects were very strict ; he had often threatened any one of his employés with instant dismissal if he found him in company with one of these touts.
1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Hocussing of Cigarette”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020The concepts of emotional intelligence (EI), self-worth, authenticity and employee meditation rooms might conjure up thoughts of new age healing centers. […] Now, Nielsen is sending all hotel employees through EI training to help them become more open and confident, understand their own limitations and fears, and to boost their self-worth and comfort in dealing with other people.
2011 November 9, Susanne Gargiulo, “Emotional intelligence in the workplace”, in CNNSynonyms: member of staff, associate, wage slave
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA person who provides labor to a company or another person.
More synonyms by meaning
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchemployé
- Englishemployee
From employ + -ee. First attested in the early 19th century, possibly modeled after French employé.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans werknemer
- werknemerperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Arabic مُوَظَّف, مُوَظَّفَة
- مُوَظَّف (muwaẓẓaf)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- مُوَظَّفَة (muwaẓẓafa)person who provides labor to a company or another person
Bulgarian слу́жещ, слу́жеща
- слу́жещ (slúžešt)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- слу́жеща (slúžešta)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- рабо́тник (rabótnik)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- рабо́тничка (rabótnička)person who provides labor to a company or another person
Catalan empleat, empleada
- empleatperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- empleadaperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Chinese Mandarin 僱員 /雇员, 職員 /职员
- 僱員 /雇员 (gùyuán)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- 職員 /职员 (zhíyuán)person who provides labor to a company or another person
Czech zaměstnanec, zaměstnankyně
- zaměstnanecperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- zaměstnankyněperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Danish ansat, arbejdstager
- ansatperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- arbejdstagerperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Dutch bediende, werknemer
- bediendeperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- werknemerperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- werkneemsterperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- medewerkerperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- medewerksterperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Esperanto dungito
- dungitoperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Estonian töötaja
- töötajaperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Finnish työntekijä
- työntekijäperson who provides labor to a company or another person
French employé, employée
- employéperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- employéeperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- salariéperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- salariéeperson who provides labor to a company or another person
German Arbeitnehmer, Arbeitnehmerin
- Arbeitnehmerperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- Arbeitnehmerinperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- Angestellterperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- Angestellteperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Greek υπάλληλος
- υπάλληλος (ypállilos)person who provides labor to a company or another person
Hebrew שָׂכִיר, מָעֳסָק
- שָׂכִיר (sakhír)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- מָעֳסָק (mo'osáq)person who provides labor to a company or another person
Hindi कर्मचारी, कर्मी
- कर्मचारी (karmacārī)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- कर्मी (karmī)person who provides labor to a company or another person
Hungarian munkavállaló, alkalmazott
- munkavállalóperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- alkalmazottperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- dolgozóperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Icelandic starfsmaður
- starfsmaðurperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Indonesian pegawai, pekerja
- pegawaiperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- pekerjaperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- karyawanperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- karyawatiperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Irish fostaí
- fostaíperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Italian dipendente
- dipendenteperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Japanese 従業員, 雇員
- 従業員 (jūgyōin)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- 雇員 (koin)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- 勤務員 (kinmuin)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- 使用人 (shiyōin)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- 職員 (shokuin)person who provides labor to a company or another person
Korean 직원, 종업원
- 직원 (jigwon)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- 종업원 (jong'eobwon)person who provides labor to a company or another person
Latin conductus, mercēnnārius
- conductusperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- mercēnnāriusperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Latvian darbinieks, darbiniece
- darbinieksperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- darbinieceperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Lithuanian darbuotojas, darbuotoja
- darbuotojasperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- darbuotojaperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Malay pekerja
- pekerjaperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Norwegian Bokmål arbeidstaker, ansatte (cf. ansatt, ansette)
- arbeidstakerperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- ansatte (cf. ansatt, ansette)person who provides labor to a company or another person
Polish pracownik, pracownica
- pracownikperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- pracownicaperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Portuguese empregado, empregada
- empregadoperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- empregadaperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Romanian angajat, angajată
- angajatperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- angajatăperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Russian рабо́тник, рабо́тница
- рабо́тник (rabótnik)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- рабо́тница (rabótnica)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- слу́жащий (slúžaščij)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- слу́жащая (slúžaščaja)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- сотру́дник (sotrúdnik)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- сотру́дница (sotrúdnica)person who provides labor to a company or another person
Scottish Gaelic cosnaiche, neach-obrach
- cosnaicheperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- neach-obrachperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Slovak zamestnanec, zamestnankyňa
- zamestnanecperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- zamestnankyňaperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Spanish empleado, empleada
- empleadoperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- empleadaperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Swahili mwajiriwa
- mwajiriwaperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Swedish anställd, arbetstagare
- anställdperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- arbetstagareperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- medarbetareperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Tagalog kawani, empleado
- kawaniperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- empleadoperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Thai ลูกจ้าง, พนักงาน
- ลูกจ้าง (lûuk-jâang)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- พนักงาน (pá-nák-ngaan)person who provides labor to a company or another person
Turkish çalışan, personel
- çalışanperson who provides labor to a company or another person
- personelperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Ukrainian робітни́к, робітни́ця
- робітни́к (robitnýk)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- робітни́ця (robitnýcja)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- працівни́к (pracivnýk)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- працівни́ця (pracivnýcja)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- співробітни́к (spivrobitnýk)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- співробітни́ця (spivrobitnýcja)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- службо́вець (službóvecʹ)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- службо́вка (službóvka)person who provides labor to a company or another person
Urdu نَوکَر, نَوکْرانی
- نَوکَر (naukar)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- نَوکْرانی (naukrānī)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- مُلازِم (mulāzim)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- مُلازِمَہ (mulāzima)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- خادِم (xādim)person who provides labor to a company or another person
- خادِمَہ (xādima)person who provides labor to a company or another person
Vietnamese nhân viên
- nhân viênperson who provides labor to a company or another person
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with employee
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
employee. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/employee
MLA
“employee.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/employee. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “employee,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/employee.
Source: employee on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.