Meanings
nounself-employment (uncountable)
- uncountableThe act or practice of working for oneself, such as being an independent contractor.
Self-employment lacks the security of working for a big company, but at least the only idiot boss you will meet is yourself.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*swé?
- Proto-Indo-European*selbʰ-
- Proto-Germanic*selbaz
- Old Englishself
- Old Englishself-
- Middle Englishself-
- Englishself-
- Englishemployment
- Englishself-employment
From self- + employment.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 自由職業 /自由职业, 自我雇用
- 自由職業 /自由职业 (zìyóu zhíyè)working for oneself
- 自我雇用 (zìwǒ gùyòng)working for oneself
- 自主創業 /自主创业 (zìzhǔ chuàngyè)working for oneself
- 自營職業 /自营职业 (zìyíng zhíyè)working for oneself
- 個體經營 /个体经营 (gètǐ jīngyíng)working for oneself
- 自雇 (zìgù)working for oneself
Finnish itsensä työllistäminen
- itsensä työllistäminenworking for oneself
French indépendant
- indépendantworking for oneself
German Selbstständigkeit, Selbständigkeit
- Selbstständigkeitworking for oneself
- Selbständigkeitworking for oneself
Hungarian önfoglalkoztatás
- önfoglalkoztatásworking for oneself
Irish féinfhostaíocht
- féinfhostaíochtworking for oneself
Polish samozatrudnienie
- samozatrudnienieworking for oneself
Russian самоза́нятость, самостоя́тельная за́нятость
- самоза́нятость (samozánjatostʹ)working for oneself
- самостоя́тельная за́нятость (samostojátelʹnaja zánjatostʹ)working for oneself
Spanish autoempleo
- autoempleoworking for oneself
Turkish serbest meslek
- serbest meslekworking for oneself
Ukrainian самоза́йнятість
- самоза́йнятість (samozájnjatistʹ)working for oneself
Cite this entry
APA
self-employment. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-employment
MLA
“self-employment.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-employment. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “self-employment,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-employment.
Source: self-employment on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.