employee
em·ploy·ee/ˌɛm.plɔɪˈiː/noun
employee is spelled E-M-P-L-O-Y-E-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables (em·ploy·ee). It appears 32 times per million words in written English, the 2,992nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, employee means “A person who provides labor to a company or another person” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of employee is employees or employées.
How many letters and syllables are in employee?
| Letters | 8: E-M-P-L-O-Y-E-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: em·ploy·ee |
| In writing | 32 times per million words; the 2,992nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is employee?
Employee appears 32 times per million words in written English, the 2,992nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce employee?
- /ˌɛm.plɔɪˈiː/
- /ɛmˈplɔɪ.iː/
- /ɪmˈplɔɪ.iː/
Employee has 3 syllables, split em·ploy·ee in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-employee.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with employee?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as employee from its last stressed vowel (/ɔɪeɪ/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of employee
- employees plural
- employées plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does employee mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
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.
noun
- 1
datedA female employee.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate employee?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of employee: Emp., emp.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Employee in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense person who provides labor to a company or another person:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | employé, employée, salarié, salariée |
| German | Arbeitnehmer, Arbeitnehmerin, Angestellter, Angestellte |
| Portuguese | empregado, empregada |
| Spanish | empleado, empleada |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does employee come from?
From employ + -ee. First attested in the early 19th century, possibly modeled after French employé.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).