# hire

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈhaɪ(.)ə/ · frequency rank #3,628

## Definitions
1. A person who has been hired, especially in a cohort.
2. The state of being hired, or having a job; employment.
3. Payment for the temporary use of something.
4. Reward.

## Etymology
From Middle English hire, hyre, here, hure, from Old English hȳr (“employment for wages; pay for service; interest on money lent”), from Proto-West Germanic *hūʀiju (“payment”), from the verb *hūʀijan, from Proto-Germanic *hūzijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *kewHs- or *kweHs-. Compare Hittite 𒆪𒊭𒀭 (kuššan-, “fee, pay, wages, price”).
Cognate with West Frisian hier (“hire”), Dutch huur (“lease, rental”), German Low German Hüür (“lease, rental”).

## Easily confused with
- **HR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hire-vs-hr)
- **his** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hire-vs-his)
- **hit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hire-vs-hit)
- **HIV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hire-vs-hiv)
- **hue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hire-vs-hue)
- **hoe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hire-vs-hoe)
- **hye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hire-vs-hye)
- **HRC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hire-vs-hrc)
- **Hur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hire-vs-hur)
- **hse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hire-vs-hse)
- **HRT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hire-vs-hrt)
- **hrm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hire-vs-hrm)
- **hor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hire-vs-hor)
- **HRW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hire-vs-hrw)
- **home** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hire-vs-home)
- **hope** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hire-vs-hope)
- **huge** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hire-vs-huge)
- **hurt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hire-vs-hurt)
- **hole** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hire-vs-hole)
- **hits** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hire-vs-hits)

## Common misspellings (5)
`hhire`, `hier`, `hirre`, `hrie`, `ihre`

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