# employ

> English word · Verb · IPA /ɪmˈplɔɪ/ · frequency rank #7,558

## Definitions
1. To retain (someone) as an employee.
2. To provide (someone) with a new job; to hire.
3. To use (someone or something) for a job or task.
4. To make busy; to preoccupy.

## Etymology
From late Middle English emploien, imploien, emplien (“to apply to a specific purpose”), from Anglo-Norman emploier, Old French emploiier (“to entangle, fabricate, to make use of”), ultimately from Latin implicāre (“to infold, entangle, involve, engage”), from in- (“in”) + plicāre (“to fold”). Doublet of imply and implicate.

## Easily confused with
- **empty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/employ-vs-empty)
- **employee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/employ-vs-employee)
- **employed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/employ-vs-employed)
- **employer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/employ-vs-employer)
- **Emily** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/emily-vs-employ)

## Common misspellings (9)
`emlpoy`, `emmploy`, `emplloy`, `employy`, `emplyo`, `empoly`, `empploy`, `epmloy`, `meploy`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/employ